Crypto & Digital Assets - India

DevelopingNo dedicated crypto-exchange licensing law. The binding regime is the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), under which a March 2023 Ministry of Finance notification brought Virtual Digital Asset (VDA) activities into scope, requiring registration with the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) as a 'Reporting Entity'. Taxation runs through the Income-tax Act (s.115BBH, s.194S); securities-like tokens fall to SEBI; a comprehensive VDA bill/discussion paper remains unfinalized.

India has no comprehensive crypto/VASP licensing framework and no token-by-token authorization regime; crypto is legal to trade but not 'recognized' and is governed through a patchwork of AML, tax and sectoral rules. The one mandatory, in-force gate is FIU-IND registration under the PMLA, which subjects exchanges and VDA service providers to bank-grade AML/CFT, KYC and reporting duties. A long-promised comprehensive policy/discussion paper has been repeatedly delayed (reportedly shelved again as of April 2026), so the regime is regulatory rather than licensing-based.

Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/23/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →