Archive · 9 Jan 2026
India Strengthens Crypto Regulations, Targets Anonymity Tokens
India has updated its rules for digital money to make it safer.
They are especially worried about digital money that can hide who owns it or where it comes from.
The new rules say that any digital money that makes transactions secret is too risky and should not be allowed.
This includes things like crypto tumblers and mixers.
If someone wants to move digital money between two wallets, at least one of them must be a wallet that the company controls, so they can check who is sending and receiving the money.
The rules also say that companies must have a special certificate to show they are following all the security rules.
This is to make sure that bad people can't use digital money to do bad things like money laundering or funding terrorism.
India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) updated guidelines for virtual digital assets (VDAs) on January 8, 2026.
The guidelines focus on self-custody wallets and anonymity-enhancing tokens, deeming them 'unacceptably high risk' due to money laundering and terrorism financing risks.
Reporting entities (REs) are prohibited from facilitating transactions involving anonymity-enhancing crypto tokens, tumblers, or mixers.
For transactions between two wallets, at least one must be a hosted wallet to obtain necessary information, with additional controls for unhosted wallets.
REs must obtain a Cyber Security Audit Certificate from a CERT-In empanelled auditor to affirm compliance with cybersecurity frameworks.
- Who
- Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-IND)
- What
- Updated guidelines for virtual digital assets (VDAs) and anonymity-enhancing tokens
- When
- January 8, 2026
- Where
- India
- Why
- To bolster regulations around cryptocurrency, particularly focusing on self-custody wallets and anonymity-enhancing tokens
- Organization
- Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-IND)
- Date
- January 8, 2026
- Guidelines Focus
- Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs), self-custody wallets, anonymity-enhancing tokens
- Risk Assessment
- Anonymity-enhancing tokens deemed 'unacceptably high risk'
- Exclusions
- Digital Rupee (e₹), Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
- Compliance Requirement
- Cyber Security Audit Certificate from CERT-In empanelled auditor
- Audit Scope
- Governance, compliance, access control, infrastructure, network, application, AML systems, third-party, cloud services, incident detection and response