ED stance strikes at the heart of cryptocurrency in India

Mumbai: The stand taken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on cryptocurrencies can unsettle crypto trading and all bourses in India. The agency, in its recent notice to WazirX, has asked the country’s largest crypto exchange to explain why ‘withdrawal from crypto wallets’ is not a violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), a person familiar with the issue told ET.

The ED notice puts a question mark on the very essence of cryptos and fundamental structure of the underlying digital ledger, blockchain, that allow holders of cryptos to freely transfer coins from their wallets to another wallet and to anyone, anywhere in the world.The agency had asked WazirX to explain