
After the Indian Federal Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched an investigation into WazirX for laundering $350m and froze the Binance-acquired Indian crypto startupโs assets, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweetedย that the acquisition transaction โwas never completed.โ
โOn 21st November 2019, Binance published a blog post that it had โacquiredโ WazirX – this transaction was never completed,โ clarified Zhao. โBinance has never – at any point – owned any shares of Zanmai Labs, the entity operating WazirX.โย
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Recently, Zanmai Labs has also come under EDโs purview of investigation.ย
However, Nischal Shetty immediately retorted with โfacts about WazirX and Binanceโ and said that WazirX was indeed acquired by Binance as Zanmai Labs has a license from Binance to operate Indian Rupees (INR)- crypto pairs in WazirX.
Zhao Blames WazirX Founders of Deceptive Word Games
Blaming WazirX founders for playing โdeception word gamesโ on Twitter, Zhao revealed that Binance asked for WazirX to transfer the system source code, deployment, and operations, as recently as February this year. โThis was refused by WazirX,โ stated Zhao.ย
Corroborating on this point, Shetty revealed that the Binance team wanted control of Zanmai [in February 2022]. He said, โNaturally if Binance desires control of Zanmai, they can acquire shares.โ
According to Binance, although WazirX transferred the domain control to Binance, it never received shared access to WazirX’s AWS account or any control over operations including user sign-up, KYC, trading, and initiating withdrawals.ย
โThis was never transferred, despite our requests. The deal was never closed,โ Zhao insisted, stating that WazirX’s founding team, Nischal Shetty and Siddharth Menon, kept the control in their hands.
To this, Shetty replied with the following points:ย
- โBinance owns WazirX domain name
- ย Binance has root access to AWS servers
- ย Binance has all the Crypto assets
- ย Binance has all the Crypto profitsโ
Calling out โincorrect reporting,โ Zhao pointed out that Binance only provides wallet services for WazirX as a tech solution. โThere is also integration using off-chain tx to save on network fees,โ he said. However, he insisted that โWazirX is responsible for all other aspects of the WazirX exchange, including user sign-up, KYC, trading and initiating withdrawals.โ
Zhao Offers to Work with ED in Any Way Possible
Acknowledging the charges against WazirX, Zhao said, โRecent allegations about the operation of WazirX and how the platform is managed by Zanmai Labs are of deep concern to Binance.โ He added, โBinance collaborates with law enforcement agencies all around the world. We would be happy to work with ED in any way possible.โ
โWe would love to work with ED to fix these issues in WazirX,โ offered Zhao. He added, โWazirX has been uncooperative with us and looks like uncooperative with ED as well.โย
However, Shetty assured that WazirX has been cooperating with ED.ย
On the Flipside
- Several Twitter users are complaining that they arenโt able to withdraw from WazirX due to maintenance issues.ย
Why You Should Care
Zhao has openly suggested that โIf you have funds on WazirX, you should transfer it to Binance. Simple as that.โ
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