Bitbns

Bitbns is an Indian cryptocurrency exchange launched in December 2017 and operated by Buyhatke Internet Private Limited, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Registered with India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-India) and compliant with FATF standards for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), it was once among the largest retail crypto platforms in the country by market share, offering Indian rupee (INR) on-ramps to more than 450 digital assets. Bitbns was designed to lower the barrier to crypto participation for Indian retail investors, allowing users to start trading with as little as 100 INR. The exchange offered spot trading across hundreds of INR and USDT pairs, margin trading, automated trading tools including bracket orders and trailing stop-limit functionality, crypto fixed deposits as a yield product, an Ascent launchpad for early token listings, a Bitdroplet recurring investment feature, API access for algorithmic trading, and derivatives trading. Security infrastructure included mandatory KYC, two-factor authentication, and biometric app login. The platform also issued its own native token, BNS, intended to provide holders with trading fee discounts — similar to exchange tokens on competing platforms. Backing from KuCoin Labs provided early institutional credibility. India's regulatory environment for crypto has been volatile: the Reserve Bank of India imposed a banking ban in 2018, which the Supreme Court overturned in 2020, and the government introduced a flat 30% tax on crypto gains plus 1% TDS on transactions in 2022, significantly dampening trading volumes and driving users toward offshore platforms. On February 1, 2022, Bitbns suffered a security breach that resulted in the theft of approximately 7.5 million USD worth of digital assets. Rather than disclosing the incident, the exchange told customers the platform was undergoing routine maintenance. The breach remained hidden for over a year until on-chain investigator ZachXBT exposed it in March 2023, after which Bitbns officially acknowledged the hack. Beginning in December 2022, large numbers of users reported persistent difficulty withdrawing funds, which the exchange attributed to technical issues and blocked bank accounts. Problems escalated in June 2023 when users found their portfolio balances displaying as zero, after which Bitbns halted all cryptocurrency withdrawals while reportedly continuing to accept deposits. By December 2024, at least 34 affected users filed a formal legal notice through advocate Aman Rehaan Khan, alleging restricted fund access, delayed withdrawals, unauthorized transactions, and violations of consumer protection law. In February 2026, the Delhi High Court disposed of a petition seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry, ruling that insufficient material had been placed before the court. Despite these serious issues, Bitbns's website remains live and the exchange continues to list trading pairs. User trust has been severely eroded by the concealed hack, prolonged withdrawal freezes, and unresolved legal complaints, with independent reviewers advising against new deposits as of mid-2026.