Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX announced that its bank accounts had been unfrozen by the ED. In a statement, WazirX said that they have provided all essential facts & documentation pertaining to suspected accused firms that used the WazirX platform in collaboration with authorities.
Update on ED investigation:
The ED has unfrozen the bank accounts of WazirX. In cooperation with investigators, WazirX provided all necessary details & documents of the alleged accused companies that used the WazirX platform.
More on this 👇https://t.co/DU36aT2oJA
— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) September 12, 2022
What’s All the Fuss About?
It is noteworthy that the ED searched WazirX’s director’s office on August 5, 2022, and frozen bank assets worth Rs 64.67 crore for aiding alleged fast lending apps to acquire and transfer virtual cryptocurrency assets for illegal activities.
ED searches the Director of WazirX Crypto-Currency Exchange & freezes its Bank assets worth Rs 64.67 Crore for assisting accused Instant Loan APP Companies in laundering of fraud money via purchase & transfer of virtual crypto assets.
— ED (@dir_ed) August 5, 2022
A statement from WazirX also indicated that 16 fintech companies and instant lending applications were being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
According to the exchange statement, WazirX collaborated with the investigators by providing all the required facts, information, and documents related to the suspected accused firms using the WazirX platform. A public statement on Twitter from CZ, which once tried to acquire WazirX in 2019, distanced Binance from the exchange in light of the accusations.
Quick thread on Binance and WazirX, and some incorrect reporting.
Binance does not own any equity in Zanmai Labs, the entity operating WazirX and established by the original founders.
1/4
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) August 5, 2022
After a series of anti-money laundering (AML) inspections, the ED unfroze WazirX’s bank accounts in response to the company’s active cooperation. As a result, the ED stated that WazirX can now resume its banking activities as usual.
During a recent meeting on unlawful lending apps, presided over by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to create a “whitelist” of all such legal applications.
As part of the regulations, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was also mandated to keep an eye on hosting only whitelisted digital lending apps on app stores.
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