In this article5 sections
India’s Enforcement Directorate searched three Bengaluru premises connected to CoinDCX and Delta Exchange India on November 4 and 5, 2026, over suspected breaches of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, according to crypto.news. The agency announced the action on November 6 and links the case to rupee-funded trading that it says was executed or settled on venues outside India.
The companies named in the probe are Neblio Technologies Private Limited, which runs CoinDCX, and Excelium Technologies Private Limited, which operates Delta Exchange India. Coinpedia reported that the Bengaluru Zonal Office acted under Section 37 of FEMA, 1999, citing an agency statement. The crypto.news account describes the matter as a foreign exchange investigation without naming that section.
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Key facts
- The ED’s Bengaluru Zonal Office searched three premises on November 4 and 5, and the agency made the action public on November 6, per crypto.news.
- The agency alleges that rupee deposits were converted into USDT and sent to venues including Binance, KuCoin, Gate.io and Bybit to fill orders and mirror derivatives positions.
- crypto.news reports that the overseas account was registered to a Costa Rica-based entity that the agency described as a paper entity, with trades allegedly placed through CoinDCX’s own application programming interfaces.
- Coinpedia reports that CoinDCX advertised “Trade in US Stock Futures” starting at ₹100, and that both platforms offered crypto futures and options plus tokenised foreign stocks.
- Delta said its INR-settled business does not involve cross-border transfers of virtual digital assets, and that customer funds stayed in Indian banks.
The three routes the agency is examining
According to crypto.news, the ED has described three separate paths through CoinDCX. The first is spot trading, where a customer’s rupees are changed into USDT and the buy is filled on an offshore exchange. The second covers crypto futures and options: the agency alleges a one-to-one matching position was opened abroad when a customer took a position in India, and closed on the foreign venue when the customer exited.
The third route involves perpetual futures tied to global stocks and indices. CoinDCX’s own guide to US stock futures states that customers get price exposure without owning the underlying shares, and lists Tesla, Apple, Meta and Alphabet among the markets. The ED alleges that CoinDCX converted funds to USDT and opened corresponding positions on Hyperliquid.
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The agency also raised preliminary questions under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. crypto.news reported that Mint’s coverage separates those product questions from the foreign exchange issues that triggered the searches.
How the two outlets describe the volume
Both reports say the agency puts cross-border spot and derivatives activity in the thousands of crores. The ED separately alleges that CoinDCX paid hundreds of crores in fees to offshore venues, and that Delta sent hundreds of crores to overseas associates. crypto.news noted that Mint’s report lists those categories without a reconciled total, and that a trading volume figure cannot be read as fresh money leaving India, since the same collateral can support repeated positions.
Coinpedia added that the searches came weeks after CoinDCX dealt with a deposit wallet incident that led to losses of about $16 million, and that blockchain investigator ZachXBT accused the exchange of initially denying the loss. crypto.news reported separately that CoinDCX put the figure at $15.99 million and said the wallets had been described as retired after its 2025 breach. Media reports reviewed by crypto.news do not announce an arrest, asset freeze or seizure in the FEMA probe as of November 8.
Why it matters
CoinDCX’s position is that the November 4 visit was a routine enquiry, that it cooperated and complies with FEMA and other Indian laws, and that deposits, trades and withdrawals kept running. Delta’s statement was narrower: it said its INR-settled service does not move virtual digital assets across borders and that user funds remained in Indian banks.
For users, the practical point is that an exchange’s registration with the Financial Intelligence Unit covers identity checks and reporting duties, not the cross-border payment rules at issue here. CoinDCX has pointed to that registration in its response.
What to watch
The next substantive step would be a public ED notice, complaint or order naming the specific provisions, time periods and transactions under examination, and any product-specific detail from CoinDCX on who executed spot orders and settled crypto or stock-linked futures. Whether the Costa Rica-based entity is identified in filings is the other marker to track.
Sources: crypto.news, Coinpedia
