Bengaluru: India’s top crypto app CoinSwitch Kuber Co-Founder Ashish Singhal on Saturday said the engagement of his firm with ED was not related to any money laundering inquiry under PMLA, but with respect to the functioning of its crypto platforms and exchanges.
“Enforcement Directorate (ED) – Bengaluru has been engaged with us with respect to the functioning of our crypto platforms/exchanges. We are fully cooperating with them. Our engagement with the Enforcement Directorate – Bengaluru was NOT related to any money laundering inquiry under PMLA, as reported in some news articles,” he clarified in a thread of tweets.
On Thursday, the ED visited the company in Bengaluru. As an industry leader in India and one of the most compliant crypto platforms, the firm has been engaged in constructive dialogues with various stakeholders to help them understand its business models, best compliance practices, thereby bringing more clarity on such matters, Singhal said. He also contended the applicability of the law when India is still assessing the classification of crypto.
“Crypto is a new asset class. Being in the early stages, cryptos are not yet clearly classified in most parts of the world. Now, the law (in India and elsewhere) is still assessing if crypto is a “commodity”, “security”, “currency” or something new. This is a work in progress. The classification of crypto and the nature of business models matter, as this decides how and what the laws that govern foreign exchange are, and if at all applicable,” he argued. India is not alone, but other countries including the US and Australia are trying to understand the nature of crypto. “India is not alone. Australia is carrying out a “token mapping” to understand this; in the US, there is an ongoing debate whether some crypto is considered commodities, others securities,” he said.
Singhal said crypto has the potential to build the new internet and his company is committed to building a responsible crypto ecosystem that contributes to the Indian economy and creates wealth and employment for millions of Indians.
“We are here for the long run. Trust, transparency, and an unwavering commitment to do right by our users are our core values. CoinSwitch is and has always been built to last. And we continue to serve our users,” he said before signing off. In a separate case his month, the ED froze $8 million in assets of WazirX, a top virtual currency exchange, in a money laundering case.
