FIU likely to launch global crypto exchange database by March next year

The exchange will also have information on the exchanges which are operating on the dark web

India may soon unveil a global database for crypto exchanges that will provide law enforcement agencies with important information on crypto assets and help track their use, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Tuesday. It is expected to be launched by the end of the current financial year, an official was quoted in the report as saying.

The move is being seen as one to bring India closer to global thinking on these assets. Earlier, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) for tax information on crypto transactions.

The exchange will also have information on exchanges operating on the dark web. An official from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) also said that India is seeking help from other countries to get more information on these exchanges. Operating on the dark web allows these exchanges to go untraced, and they are mostly used for trafficking and terror financing.

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The report added that the Home Ministry is also taking a keen interest in the project, especially after reports of the use of crypto assets in the Manipur violence emerged. Between 2019 and 2021, the FIU found that drugs worth Rs 28,000 crore were sold and bought using crypto. The Home Ministry is already developing a Cryptocurrency Intelligence and Analysis Tool (CIAT), ET added.

Moreover, the database is expected to help a wide range of agencies, from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in tracking cases of money laundering.