India tightens grip on crypto Crypto transactions now under Prevention of Money Laundering Act

Nirmala Sitaraman published a gazette on Tuesday notifying that certain crypto activities when carried out for or on behalf of another natural or legal person in the course of business will be subject to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.

The exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies the exchange between one or more forms of virtual digital assets and the transfer of virtual digital assets will be covered under the money laundering law. 

The administration of virtual digital assets and the participation in financial services related to the offer and sale of virtual digital assets will fall under the purview of the PMLA.

Sharat Chandra co-founder of the India Blockchain forum expresses that this notification is a great step towards compliance for the crypto industry to the local media, 

Also, he said: 

"it madates entities dealing in crypto to follow KYC anti money laundering rgulations and due diligence as followed by banking and other financial entities which fall under the classification of reporting entities under PMLA"

Sumit Gupta co-founder and CEO of Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX commented Slowly but surely we are moving towards a regulated crypto ecosystem.

According to Ashish Singhal co-founder of the crypto investing app Coinswitch 

"Finance Ministry's notification to bring VDA under PMLA is a positive step in recognizing the sector This will strengthen our collective efforts to prevent VDA's from being misues by bad actors."

The government of India recently led a discussion on cryptocurrency regulation among G20 finance ministers and central bank governors at the conclusion of the G20 meeting for finance chiefs. 

Related: Indian Central Bank Governor warns G20 of Crypto's potential to disrupt global financial stability