ByBit Pays Rs. 9.27 Crore Penalty, Completes FIU-IND Registration

ByBit on Thursday announced that it has settled a monetary penalty imposed on the crypto firm, by India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND). The Dubai-based crypto exchange has also registered with the FIU-IND and revealed that it will ramp up initiatives to spread crypto awareness in India and work with educational institutions to let students experiment with blockchain technologies. Bitget, Liminal Custody, and Binance are among other crypto firms that have also registered with the FIU-IND after it was made mandatory for all firms offering crypto services in the country in December 2023.

ByBit Resolves Prior Regulatory Lapses

Last month, The crypto exchange informed its customers in India that it was temporarily halting its services in the country. Soon after, the FIU-IND announced that Bybit was not in compliance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ByBit was directed to pay a Rs. 9.27 crore penalty by the regulator.

In its announcement Bybit said it has settled the penalty and resolved prior regulatory lapses.

“Bybit recognises the great potential of the Indian market. We have been actively working to fulfill all necessary requirements for compliance, including its registration application on 26 June 2024 as a Virtual Digital Asset Service Provider (VDASP) in India,” the exchange said in its statement.

Now that the exchange is registered with the FIU, it is expected to restart its services soon in India. According to its announcement, ByBit said it will be offering spot, derivatives, and options trading services to its Indian users.

ByBit was founded in 2018 by Ben Zhou. The Dubai-headquartered crypto company says that it caters to over 40 million users globally.

The exchange's not-for-profit initiative — Blockchain for Good Alliance (BGA) — plans to introduce blockchain and crypto initiatives for students in the country. The exchange has disclosed that the BGA has already partnered with the blockchain-focussed societies in institutes like IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur, to accelerate educational programmes centred around Web3 technologies.

“Bybit will also be conducting a series of hackathons, workshops, and other events in partnership with top universities to foster crypto and blockchain education and awareness within the Indian market in the coming months,” the exchange said.

In addition, the exchange said is a member of the Bharat Web3 Association (BWA), which is an indepedent crypto advisory body headed by former FICCI secretary general, Dilip Chenoy.

As part of this membership, the exchange will adhere to the self-regulatory guidelines that the BWA has released for crypto businesses in India. These include the "Cybersecurity and Fair-Trading Guidelines," and Token Listing rules laid out by the BWA in recent months.