Crypto exchange OKX shuts ops in India citing regulatory hurdles

OKX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in terms of trading volume, is shutting down its services in India. Citing local regulatory hurdles, the Seychelles-headquartered exchange notified its users in the country to close their accounts and redeem funds before April 30.

In an email notification to its users, OKX informed that customers will be able to withdraw only funds, while all the other services will be unavailable.

The development comes months after the show cause notice was released by Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU IND) to nine crypto exchanges including Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, and Bittrex, among others. However, the notice did not mention OKX.

Meanwhile, OKX is strengthening its services in other regions as it secured licenses in Singapore and Dubai, and launched trading with the local currency of Turkey.

Despite a surge in Bitcoin prices over the past few weeks, cryptocurrencies exchanges are finding it hard to operate in the Indian market. While Binance is facing a partial ban in India, global exchanges like Coinbase, Koinex and Indian-origin companies like Pillow and Flint have already shut their operations down in the country.

India’s top crypto unicorns including CoinDCX and CoinSwitch have also faced challenges in the past 12 months as they went through layoffs and cost-cutting measures. Notably, both companies saw a significant decline in their operating revenue in FY23.