India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a series of raids on November 4–5 at the offices of entities linked to major local crypto exchanges CoinDCX and Delta Exchange India. The regulator suspects the platforms of organizing illegal capital outflows outside the country.
The substance of the regulator's claims
According to the ED, the transactions were carried out using stablecoins and were intended to finance trading in derivatives and tokenized stocks. The volume of suspicious operations is estimated at tens of billions of rupees — an amount that elevates the investigation into the ranks of the largest cases against the crypto industry in India in recent years.
The regulator paid particular attention to instruments that allow Indian traders to access foreign derivatives markets and tokenized stocks while bypassing existing currency restrictions. Stablecoins in this scheme serve as a transit link that minimizes the visibility of fund movements to supervisory authorities.
The exchanges' position
Both platforms — CoinDCX and Delta Exchange India — categorically deny any violations and state their readiness to cooperate with the investigation. Nevertheless, the very fact of the raids signals a shift by the Indian regulator from declaratory oversight to active enforcement action against crypto platforms.
The situation is unfolding against the backdrop of a tightening fiscal regime for digital assets in India: since 2022, a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on transactions and a 30% tax on profits have been in effect, which has already forced a significant portion of traders to migrate to foreign platforms. The current investigation could accelerate this outflow and increase pressure on the local market.
Cryptalist analysis: The case demonstrates the emergence of a sustained trend — regulators in South Asia are moving toward targeted prosecution of infrastructure players, not just retail traders. For CoinDCX and Delta Exchange India, reputational and operational risks may prove more significant than direct financial sanctions, while for the market as a whole it is a signal of rising compliance costs and a likely shift of liquidity toward jurisdictions with more predictable regulation.