Major Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has announced that it is shutting down its services in India due to local regulations.
The Crypto exchange advised its users to withdraw all funds on the platform by the end of April.
According to Bitcoin News, the exchange sent out a notice to its users on Thursday announcing their plans to quit operations in the country.
- “We regret to inform you that OKX is no longer providing services to users in India, “The note said.
- “Due to local regulations, you need to withdraw all funds from your account.”
- “In addition, users must also “close all margin positions, as well as positions in perpetuals, futures, and options” and “redeem all funds from Grow products: Earn, Loan, Jumpstart.” These steps must be completed by April 30 at noon UTC, Accounts will be restricted to withdrawals after this date.” OKX advised.
OKX announcement came after Apple and Google removed several crypto apps from their stores.
India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) recently flagged these crypto exchanges as operating illegally in the country.
In December last year, the Indian FIU issued “compliance Show Cause Notices” to nine offshore crypto service providers.
The Indian Ministry of Finance shared at the time that 31 crypto service providers had registered with the FIU.
OKX crypto exchange was not one of the crypto exchanges that registered with the FIU.
What to Know
- In India, Cryptocurrencies are not regulated. The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained that crypto assets cannot be currencies which is why they are yet to be regulated in India.
- At the G20 meeting that India hosted last year, the country made a case for a global framework for regulating cryptocurrencies citing the various challenges that will emerge if only one or two countries regulate it.
- OKX has over 50 million global users with India being one of its main markets.