India’s Enforcement Directorate, or ED, said a probe into more than ₹5,000 crore in crypto transfers found unauthorized foreign payouts routed through platforms including Binance and Bybit. At Friday’s exchange rate, that amount was about $527 million.
The agency, which enforces India’s foreign-exchange and money-laundering laws, said the transfers crossed the border without authorization.
Searches took place on Oct. 27
According to a press release attached to the ED’s Oct. 29 post on X, the agency’s Bengaluru office searched four premises on Oct. 27. Three were in Bengaluru, and one was in Madhya Pradesh.
The ED said the probe uncovered shell entities in tax haven countries, massive over-the-counter deals, and illegal foreign payouts through platforms such as Binance and Bybit. The agency did not allege wrongdoing by either exchange.
The searches were carried out under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, or FEMA. Under that law, violations are treated as civil matters and can lead to penalties. Money-laundering cases are handled under a separate law.
An earlier case from the same Bengaluru office
The October searches came after a separate case handled by the same ED office.
According to a Free Press Journal report published at the time, ED Bengaluru searched six premises on June 17 linked to crypto payment and remittance firms, including Transak Technology India and Buyhatke Internet. That case involved more than ₹2,500 crore in alleged FEMA violations, and the agency froze about ₹6 crore in bank accounts.
RPFAS Technologies, Mudrex, and Saber.money named in the release
The release named RPFAS Technologies Private Limited, a Bengaluru company that operates the Mudrex and Saber.money platforms, as one focus of the probe.
The ED said the company bought and sold crypto on foreign platforms including Binance and Bybit. It put its preliminary estimate of FEMA contraventions at more than ₹4,600 crore, tied to unauthorized cross-border transfers and crypto balances held on foreign platforms.
A Mudrex representative told ThePrint in an email that the company believes its operations comply with applicable laws and regulations, that the platform continues to operate normally, and that user funds remain secure.
Instadapp and Fluid also cited
The release also named DeFi protocol Instadapp, which the ED said now operates largely under the name Fluid.
The agency put the preliminary figure for alleged FEMA contraventions in the Instadapp case at about $40 million.
As of Friday, Instadapp and Fluid had not commented publicly on the release.
No arrests, charges, or seizures announced
The ED announced no arrests, charges, or seizures.
As of Friday afternoon, neither Binance nor Bybit had commented publicly on the agency’s statement.
