India moves to block 15 crypto apps, leaving users facing sudden account lockout

India’s Financial Intelligence Unit, the agency enforcing anti-money laundering reporting rules for crypto services, has issued non-compliance notices to 15 providers and separately sought the takedown of their apps and URLs from public access in India.

The Sept. 9 announcement says the services were operating without meeting relevant requirements under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The practical risk is loss of public app and website access, but the release does not say that every service is already blocked or that customer accounts, balances or withdrawals have been frozen.

FIU-IND named both the consumer-facing brands and their associated entities. The first six are Weex, paired with Weex International Exchange LTD; Blofin with BLF Global Limited; Rezorex with RezorEx; Bitunix with Bitunix LLC; DigiFinex with DigiFinex Ltd; and Toobit with Hopeful Technology Co. Ltd.

The remainder are XT.com, paired in the release with Fibtc Ltd / XT TECHNICAL PTE. LTD.; Latoken with LAtrade Ltd; WOO X with Wootech Limited; Pionex with Marketa Trading Inc.; ChangeNow with CHN Group LLC; SimpleSwap with SimpleSwap LTD; Fixedfloat with FFGX Group LLC; WhiteBIT with UAB Clear White Technologies; and Guardarian with FinSeven CZ.

FIU-IND said the takedown notices were issued under India’s information technology law and intermediary rules. The order seeks action against public apps and URLs; it does not by itself show that app stores or internet providers have completed the removals.

India brought virtual-asset service providers within its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework in March 2023. Under FIU-IND’s registration rules, businesses offering covered exchange, transfer, custody, administration or issuer-related services in India must register as reporting entities and comply with reporting, record-keeping and related obligations.

That test is based on services offered in India, so offshore incorporation or the absence of a physical office does not remove a provider from the regime. Continued access therefore turns on whether each named service resolves its FIU registration and compliance position, although the current release does not spell out an access-restoration process.

The announcement gives no common remediation deadline, reports no response from the companies and offers no platform-specific guidance for existing Indian customers. An app or website takedown is not evidence that customer funds are lost. At the same time, users cannot assume login and withdrawal routes will remain unchanged if public access is restricted.

India’s earlier enforcement shows how implementation can be uneven. FIU-IND issued notices to nine offshore providers and sought URL blocking in December 2023. CryptoSlate found the following month that some sites were inaccessible in certain browsers while others remained reachable during its tests.

For the latest cohort, the next evidence is whether intermediaries implement the requested removals and whether individual providers announce registration plans, India-specific limits or withdrawal arrangements. For now, the confirmed action is the issuance of notices and takedown requests.