Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, has assisted India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) in taking down a massive gaming scam worth $47.6 million.
The scam was linked to the Fiewin app, and it involved luring users into online betting schemes, promising easy earnings, only to trap their funds.
Binance’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) provided critical data that helped trace the flow of funds and uncover the fraud network, leading to the arrest of four individuals connected to the scam.
The ED pointed out that Binance’s involvement, particularly through its FIU, was why they were able to trail down the hackers.
India’s booming crypto market
Earlier this year, Binance became one of only two foreign exchanges officially registered with India’s Financial Investigation Unit.
Though cryptocurrency remains unregulated in the country, this registration was seen as a soft legitimization of the market.
India now leads global cryptocurrency adoption for the second year in a row, with around 30% of adults owning some form of crypto.
The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies in India is estimated at INR 6 trillion (about $72 billion).
Trading activity also remains high, with daily volumes on major exchanges fluctuating between INR 100 billion to INR 150 billion (USD 1.2 billion to USD 1.8 billion).
India has also imposed heavy taxation on cryptocurrency investments, slapping a 30% tax on income from crypto investments, along with a 1% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on all transactions.
With the upcoming Budget, industry insiders are pushing for huge reforms. A primary demand is reducing the TDS from 1% to 0.01%.
There’s also pressure on the government to allow losses to be offset against gains, which would be a big win for both retail and institutional investors.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been working on developing a multi-layered regulatory framework for crypto activities.
The framework is expected to address issues like anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT).