FIU-IND notices to 15 crypto platforms (9 September 2026): what happened, and what it means for you

On 9 September 2026, the Financial Intelligence Unit, India (FIU-IND) issued notices under section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to 15 offshore crypto service providers and sought the takedown of their apps and websites under section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act. The stated reason is non-compliance with PMLA obligations: these platforms were serving Indian users without meeting India's anti-money-laundering requirements.

If you use one of these apps, your access could be cut off as takedowns take effect. The sensible move is to make sure you can get your funds out through the platform's official channels, keep a full record of your transactions for tax, and if you want to keep holding Bitcoin, hold it in a wallet you control or on a platform registered with FIU-IND. Nothing here is a reason to panic. It is a reason to check.

The rules have not changed since March 2023

I co-founded Unocoin in 2013, and I have watched Indian crypto rules arrive one by one. What strikes me about this week's notices is how unsurprising they are.

The rule they enforce has been in place since 7 March 2023, when crypto exchange, transfer and safekeeping were brought under the PMLA. Every platform serving Indian customers has had three and a half years to register. Our rule at Unocoin was always that you can't run from the government, so we registered as a reporting entity. What changes over time is not the rule. It is the cost of ignoring it, and that cost keeps going up.

What happened on 9 September

According to DD News, FIU-IND issued notices under section 13 of the PMLA to 15 virtual digital asset service providers operating offshore. Its Director, acting as the nodal officer under section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, sought the takedown of their URLs and apps.

In the same communication, FIU-IND repeated a warning worth reading slowly: crypto products and NFTs are "unregulated and can be highly risky", and there may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.

The 15 platforms named

The platforms named in the notices were:

• Weex
• Blofin
• RezorEx
• Bitunix
• DigiFinex
• Toobit
• XT.com
• Latoken
• WOO X
• Pionex
• ChangeNow
• SimpleSwap
• FixedFloat
• WhiteBIT
• Guardarian

All were named on the same ground: non-compliance with PMLA obligations for serving Indian users.

Be careful how you read this list. A notice under the PMLA is about registration and anti-money-laundering duties. It is not a finding that any of these platforms is a scam or has lost customer funds. I am reporting the facts as published, not passing judgment on any company.

Why: PMLA obligations are activity-based

Some people assume that an exchange based outside India does not have to follow Indian rules. FIU-IND has been clear that this is wrong.

Under the 2023 notification, five activities make a business a reporting entity: exchanging crypto for rupees or other fiat, exchanging one crypto for another, transferring crypto, safekeeping or administering it, and taking part in financial services for a token issuer's offer and sale. The obligations depend on whether you do those things for Indian users, not on where your office is.

A reporting entity has to register with FIU-IND, verify its customers, keep records for five years, report suspicious transactions and appoint officers responsible for compliance. The platforms named this week had not done that, according to FIU-IND.

This is the third wave since 2023

This is not new. It is the third round of offshore notices:

• 28 December 2023: show-cause notices to nine offshore platforms, with a request to block their URLs.
• 1 October 2025: notices to 25 more offshore platforms and takedowns under the IT Act. At that time, 50 providers were registered with FIU-IND.
• 9 September 2026: notices to these 15.

Penalties have followed some of the earlier cases. FIU-IND fined Binance ₹18.82 crore in June 2024 and Bybit ₹9.27 crore in January 2025. Some platforms then registered and resumed serving India.

The pattern is clear. The list of registered platforms grows, and platforms that serve Indians without registering face notices, blocks and fines.

What it says about where India is heading

Put this week next to the other 2026 headlines and a picture forms. In July the RBI told Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance that VDAs should not be legalised, and counted 54 FIU-registered service providers serving 39.3 million KYC-verified users. The same month, the committee's report on the Securities Markets Code recommended a regulatory framework for VDAs, with self-regulatory organisations in the meantime. Those recommendations are advisory, and India still has no dedicated crypto law.

Whatever comes next, the direction of enforcement has been consistent for three years: know your customer, keep records, report, and register if you serve Indians. A platform that does those things may still face new rules. A platform that skips them faces notices, blocks and fines. As a user, the safest position is to be on the side of the line the government keeps drawing in the same place.

If you hold funds on one of these apps

Here is what I would do, calmly and in this order:

1. Log in through the official app or website you already use. Do not search for a "new link" or download an app from anywhere other than the official source. Takedowns are exactly when fake apps and phishing links appear.
2. Download your full transaction history: every deposit, buy, sell, swap and withdrawal. You will need it for Schedule VDA in your ITR whatever happens to the platform.
3. Decide where your Bitcoin should live. You can withdraw it to a wallet you control, or to a platform registered with FIU-IND. Send a small test amount first, check it arrives, then move the rest.
4. Never share your OTP, password or seed phrase with anyone claiming to help you "recover" or "migrate" your funds. Real support never asks.
5. Talk to a CA about anything you sold or swapped on these platforms. There is no specific ruling on moving coins to your own wallet; the common view is that it is not a sale, and our self-custody and tax guide explains what to confirm. Every sale and swap still needs to be reported.

What I would not do is look for a workaround to keep using a blocked service. Trying to get around a block is how people end up with frozen funds, missing records and a much harder conversation at tax time.

How to check a platform before you use it

Every one of these situations could have been avoided with a two-minute check. Before you sign up anywhere:

• Search for the platform's legal company name on the FIU-IND list of registered VDA service providers at fiuindia.gov.in.
• Check how long it has been operating in India.
• Check whether it deducts 1% TDS and gives you proper statements.
• Test a small withdrawal to your own wallet.
• Walk away from anyone promising sure-shot returns or asking for your OTP, password, PAN or seed phrase in a chat.

Unocoin is registered with FIU-IND as a reporting entity under the PMLA, and you should check that yourself the same way. Registration is not a safety guarantee, which is why the full checklist exists. Run it on every platform you use, including ours.

Keep reading

Sources

• DD News: FIU-IND notices to 15 offshore platforms
• The Block: India seeks takedowns of 15 platforms (9 Sep 2026)
• Drishti IAS: PMLA obligations are activity-based
• Medianama: 25 offshore notices (Oct 2025)
• Taxmann: S.O. 1072(E)
• AZB Partners: PMLA obligations
• FIU-IND Binance order
• FIU-IND Bybit order
• Cryptopolitan: RBI to Finance committee (3 July 2026)
• Medianama: committee report on VDA framework (July 2026)