India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched a probe into two major cryptocurrency exchanges, CoinDCX and Delta Exchange, over allegations of unauthorized cross-border transactions involving crypto derivatives and tokenized assets worth thousands of crores. The ED conducted searches at three premises linked to the exchanges in Bengaluru on November 4 and 5 under Section 37 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.
The investigation targets Neblio Technologies Private Limited, which operates CoinDCX, and Excelium Technologies Private Limited, which runs Delta Exchange. The ED alleges that both platforms offered crypto futures, options, and trading in tokenized stocks of foreign companies without proper authorization. One advertisement from CoinDCX promoted trading in US stock futures starting at ₹100.
The ED described a scheme involving “double hop” spot trading transactions on CoinDCX. Users deposited Indian rupees, which were converted into the stablecoin USDT and then sent to foreign exchanges like Binance, KuCoin, and Gate.io. The agency claimed these transactions bypassed regulatory frameworks for cross-border money transfers and involved a Costa Rica-based entity described as a “paper entity.”
The ED also alleged that CoinDCX’s futures and options products were executed on foreign platforms through APIs, with trades settled abroad. The volume of these cross-border transactions is said to run into thousands of crores. The investigation is ongoing, and the allegations have not been proven.