India's ED Searches 3 Sites In CoinDCX And Delta Forex Probe

India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced searches linked to CoinDCX and Delta Exchange on 6th November, alleging that the platforms routed customer trades abroad in breach of foreign exchange rules. Both exchanges acknowledged visits by officials and said trading, deposits and withdrawals were continuing normally.

The ED statement and attached release describe searches at three premises in Bengaluru on 4th and 5th November under the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999, or FEMA. They name CoinDCX operator Neblio Technologies Private Limited and Delta Exchange operator Excelium Technologies Private Limited. The agency says its investigation continues; the release reports allegations and investigative findings, rather than a court judgment.

Overseas Trades At The Centre Of The Probe

The agency's account centres on what happens after an Indian customer deposits rupees. ED alleges CoinDCX converted customer money into the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and sent it to overseas platforms, including Binance, KuCoin and Gate.io, to execute orders. It says the foreign accounts were held in the name of a Costa Rica entity that it describes as a paper entity, while CoinDCX controlled trades through software connections.

For futures and options, ED says CoinDCX opened matching positions overseas and closed them when customers closed their trades. It alleges that products promoted as tokenised foreign stocks instead involved derivative positions on Hyperliquid. These are contracts linked to an asset's value, rather than ownership of the underlying shares, according to the agency's description.

ED puts several categories of alleged overseas trading in the thousands of crores of rupees, without an exact consolidated total. One crore is ten million. It also alleges that Delta Exchange India routed a large volume of derivatives trades through CoinDCX and transferred hundreds of crores to associated entities abroad.

Both Exchanges Say Services Continue

Delta's response, posted on 6th November, says its Indian business involves no cross-border transfer of virtual digital assets in any form. It describes a rupee-settled exchange for Indian users and says customer funds remain in Indian banks. Delta says it cooperated fully with officials and has been registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit India since 2023.

CoinDCX's statement calls the 4th November visit a routine enquiry. It says it provided the requested information, is registered with the financial intelligence unit and complies with Indian law, including FEMA.

ED says the products' compatibility with securities and other financial laws is also being examined.