India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it searched three Bengaluru premises linked to CoinDCX and Delta Exchange India as it investigates suspected cross-border activity involving crypto derivatives and real-world asset tokens.
The agency’s Nov. 6 public post said the searches were conducted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. Moneycontrol and NDTV Profit, citing an ED press release, reported that the searches took place on Nov. 4 and 5.
Those outlets reported that the ED alleges CoinDCX changed customer deposits in rupees into Tether (USDT) before trades on Binance, KuCoin, Gate.io and Bybit. The release reportedly links some transactions to accounts held by a Costa Rica-based entity the agency described as a paper entity. The reports put the transaction volume in the thousands of crores of rupees but gave no exact amount or period.
In separate allegations, NDTV Profit and Business Today reported that the ED said Delta Exchange India routed a substantial share of its futures, options and tokenized-stock activity through CoinDCX and transferred hundreds of crores of rupees to overseas associate entities. These reports do not state that Delta’s activity followed the same route through the overseas exchanges named in the CoinDCX allegations.
Moneycontrol and NDTV Profit also reported that the ED is examining whether products offered by the platforms could breach the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956; the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act, 1992; and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934.
CoinDCX described the Nov. 4 visit to its Bengaluru office as a “routine enquiry,” said it cooperated and reported that trading, deposits and withdrawals remained operational. Delta Exchange said it cooperated and services continued. Separately, it denied cross-border transfers of virtual digital assets. The ED’s investigation is ongoing.
