Cryptocurrency Binance WazirX India Enforcement Directorate Investigates Money Laundering Crypto

The news comes as there was a vocal disagreement on Twitter between the CEO of Binance and the CEO of WazirX over the ownership of WazirX.

The news comes as there was a vocal disagreement on Twitter between the CEO of Binance and the CEO of WazirX over the ownership of WazirX.

After India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week issued orders to freeze Rs 64.67 crore of bank deposits of crypto exchange WazirX, the CEO of WazirX and crypto exchange giant Binance is under pressure to confirm that WazirX is owned by Binance. in or not. They also have to confirm whether the transaction took place “off-chain” between them.

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The ED is probing WazirX, one of India’s largest crypto exchanges, which received a show-cause notice of Rs 2,790.74 crore last year.

WazirX said it has a “no tolerance policy” regarding illegal activities using the exchange and is “fully cooperating” with the ED. It also claimed that there was a “big misunderstanding” between WazirX and Binance regarding off-chain transactions.

“Off-chain transactions between WazirX and Binance can only be done by a user between their own accounts on the two platforms. Hence, KYC details are available for all off-chain transfers as well [and have been submitted to the ED when requested]said part of the statement.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has previously stated that Binance provides wallet services for WazirX, and may shut down the Indian exchange if it wants to do so. Mr. Zhao further urged WazirX users to move their funds to Binance.

WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty claimed that WazirX was acquired by Binance. But Mr. Zhao disagrees, saying that Binance does not have any shares belonging to WazirX’s parent Zanmai Labs.

The statement from WazirX also noted that it was collaborated by Zanmai Labs and Binance.

Since WazirX has been identified as a Binance-owned or Binance-acquired exchange, Mr. Zhao’s statements now paint an entirely different picture of the relationship between the two crypto exchanges.

Furthermore, as per Binance’s policy to comply with local regulators, off-chain transfers between the two exchanges will end tomorrow. While WazirX executives have assured users that their funds are safe and the exchange is solvent, trading volume has declined in recent days as many crypto investors fear a situation like the Celsius platform or Wold. These platforms and many others abruptly halted user transfers and withdrawals amid a liquidity crunch following the May 2022 crypto crash.

WazirX’s token WRX fell by 7.35% on the previous day to $0.2253.