Major cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is working with Indian regulators to obtain the license required to serve the market in compliance with local laws.
Bitget has been actively discussing with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to obtain Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration, the firm announced on July 3.
1/ We are aware of the current difficulty in accessing the Bitget platform in India. We’re actively exploring ways to serve the region while ensuring our platform meets the region's compliance requirements.
— Bitget India (@BitgetIndia) July 3, 2024
Bitget is currently operating in the Indian market but faces some issues with signing up new users due to certain regulatory limitations.
Bitget’s head of global communications, Simran Alphonso, stated that the registration would unlock a clear route to abide by tax compliance and maintain operational transparency.
“It also provides a safe ground to host meetups, interact with the community and run educational drives. It makes a crypto exchange more reliable and credible,” Alphonso noted.
She added that the FIU registration also helps with consumer protection, such as dispute resolution and compensation for fraud, and provides civil force support in tracking down scammers.
Bitget Currently Operates In India With Certain Limitations
According to Alphonso, the Bitget crypto exchange operates in the Indian market. Still, it faces issues with signing up new users due to limitations associated with the absence of VASP registration. She stated:
“There’s difficulty for new users to access Bitget apps on Google Play store and App store while existing users can use the app with all its available features.”
Alphonso did not elaborate on the exact cryptocurrency services that Bitget is currently offering to its existing users in India.
“Bitget remains optimistic about serving this key market,” Alphonso said, adding that India is a “high-priority market” for the company.
Binance and KuCoin paid penalties to get FIU’s VASP approvals
Bitget’s efforts to improve compliance in India come a few weeks after India’s FIU approved VASP applications of other major global exchanges, such as Binance and KuCoin in May 2024.
The approvals recovered the companies’ legal status in India after the FIU issued noncompliance notices to nine crypto exchanges, including Binance and KuCoin, in late 2023.
Due to these compliance issues, Apple’s App Store in India blocked Binance, KuCoin, Bitget, Huobi, OKX, Gate.io and MEXC crypto exchange apps in December last year.
Eventually, KuCoin reportedly paid a penalty of $41,000 and resumed operations in May 2024. The FIU subsequently issued charges against Binance and imposed a $2.25 million fine on the exchange for servicing Indian clients without adhering to local Anti-Money Laundering rules.
“Currently other global exchanges — like KuCoin and Binance — have paid penalties and are now completing the registration to restore full services. This is now the same case with Bitget — it’s applied for registration and is currently in talks with the regulators,” Alphonso stated.