A Massive Market, a Silent Freeze: Exness' India Halt

Exness, one of the largest contracts for differences (CFDs) brokers by trading volume, stopped onboarding new customers from India on 11 July. The broker has not provided any explanation for the move, leading to widespread speculation on social media about a possible return.

A Massive Market for Exness

Although Exness is no longer accepting new traders from India, it continues to offer services to its existing clients.

Dabba broker @EXNESS banned in India from 11july ?
How will referral guys survive now? They don’t know trading, they can’t onboard new clients, and their existing clients have already lost money — thanks to mini HFT tactics and copied, crappy indicators. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Q2GUFkVirr

— himansh (@himansh63588688) July 8, 2025

India is clearly one of its top markets. However, since Exness operates through several domains, it's complicated to confirm whether India is the largest traffic-generating country overall.

While active-client distribution does not necessarily reflect web traffic patterns, India remains one of Exness's biggest markets. No trading platform, whether a CFDs broker or otherwise, would choose to completely exit such a vast and expanding market.

Privately held CFD brokers typically do not disclose country-specific data. However, iForex, another CFDs broker preparing for a public listing, reported that 17 per cent of its revenue comes from India—second only to Japan. The broker generated $50 million in trading income in 2024 from around 29,000 active clients.

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Is a Return Likely?

Exness mainly operates in India through affiliates and introducing brokers. Many now believe the broker may resume onboarding under a different brand name.

It is also shifting its existing Indian clients from its Seychelles entity to another unit registered in Vanuatu. Again, no explanation was given for the change.

This move has fuelled further speculation that Exness may soon restart onboarding Indian clients.

It’s important to note that CFDs are neither regulated nor banned in India. Offshore brokers operate in a legal grey area in the country.

The Reserve Bank of India, which oversees local forex dealers, recently added 88 entities to a warning list. These include brokers, trading platforms, and even a news website. Exness is among the listed names.

Meanwhile, some Indian clients on Exness have faced payment issues. Several users complained that the bank option for deposits and withdrawals was suddenly disabled. However, in a recent video, one of Exness's influencer affiliates showed that the broker had reinstated bank transfers for both deposits and withdrawals.

What's this ? Even when everything verified fully you show like this !??? pic.twitter.com/kwGdCnzfmm

— Gagandeep.B (@deepubangaradka) July 13, 2025

India’s securities regulator has also introduced a new payment verification system aimed at protecting retail investors from unlicensed brokers. The rule requires all registered intermediaries to adopt a standardised UPI payment handle. But since CFDs brokers like Exness are not registered in India, these rules do not apply to them.