Taxes imposed on cryptocurrency without comment on its legality in the 2022 budget, drove investors away from Indian exchanges towards Binance last year. But this year the government didn't address cryptocurrencies at all, despite the Reserve Bank of India's opposition to the virtual asset. Now the Enforcement Directorate has seized as much as Rs 936 crore linked to crypto trade.
The Union Minister of State for Finance has informed that five people have also been arrested in crypto-linked cases. He added that global collaboration will be required to prevent violations, since crypto is borderless. Of the seized assets, those worth Rs 289 crore were from WazirX, which also received notices for crypto transactions worth Rs 2,790 crore.
The ED is also investigating several cases of crypto frauds, along with some exchanges in connection with money laundering. The Reserve Bank of India has also been warning people through notices, about legal, financial and consumer protection risks related to cryptocurrency trading. The past year has seen major crypto exchanges across the world and in India crashing, wiping of investors' funds.
