- Binance allegedly created alternative URLs for Indian customers to access the platform.
- The crypto exchange’s global website and app are inaccessible to Indian customers.
- The clampdown follows a regulatory action by Indian authorities on unlicensed crypto exchanges.
Amid the regulatory clampdown in India, Binance has allegedly created alternative URLs for customers to access the cryptocurrency exchange platform without a VPN. Crypto influencer Keyur Rohit raised these changes in a recent post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Rohit posted a snapshot from Binance Verify confirming that the two new URLs are legitimate websites associated with the crypto exchange.
In another tweet, the influencer shared a supposed conversation between a user and Binance customer care. According to the snapshot, the customer representative told the user they could access the platform by changing the ‘.com’ to ‘.me’ or ‘.info’. In another snapshot, a customer rep confirmed that the websites are safe to use.
Notably, the development follows a clampdown on offshore cryptocurrency exchange platforms by the Indian Finance Ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The regulator claims that several of the crypto exchanges operating in the country are doing so without appropriate licenses.
Last December, the FIU issued warnings to the affected crypto exchanges, which include Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, and Bitfenex. Alongside concerns about their unauthorized operations, the regulator noted anti-money laundering violations by these platforms.
Following the warnings, on January 15, Google removed Binance, Kraken, and other foreign cryptocurrency apps from its Play Store for Indian customers. The changes at Google follow a similar action at Apple, which saw at least nine crypto apps getting banned on its App Store in India.
Meanwhile, the FIU had also blocked the URLs of the nine crypto exchanges, effectively making it impossible for Indian customers to access them. The FIU said the unauthorized platforms offer services to a substantial number of Indian customers despite their non-compliance.
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