WazirX Told to Move Funds Out of Binance Wallets
- Binance is ending its collaboration with WazirX, and has ordered the Indian exchange to withdraw its assets held in Binance wallets by the end of 3 February.
- After the deadline, WazirX will need to work out an arrangement with Binance on how to withdraw any remaining crypto assets from its wallets.
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Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has given Zanmai Labs, the entity behind Indian crypto exchange WazirX, until the end of the day to remove assets held in Binance wallets, the company said in a blog post on 3 February.
According to the announcement, Binance has decided to end its collaboration with Zanmai as the company has refused to clarify its “misleading statements”, which claimed Binance was involved in running Indian crypto exchange WazirX. Zanmai was given until 3 February, 23:59 UTC, to remove all funds from the accounts used for WazirX operations, after which it will need to work out an arrangement with Binance on how to withdraw any remaining assets.
The disagreement between the two companies started back in August 2022, when India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided several properties of WazirX director and co-founder Sammer Mhatre under suspicions the exchange had helped 16 companies launder money through it. Days after the event, the ED accused the exchange of processing transactions that sent around $130 million from firms under investigation to international wallets.
Shortly after the raid on Mhatre’s properties, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao took to Twitter to explain that Binance never owned shares in Zanmai Labs, and that it only provided WazirX with its wallet services. On the next day, WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty answered on Twitter:
Similar to many other exchanges, WazirX published its own proof-of-reserve last month, revealing that 90% of its users’ assets were held in Binance wallets, while only 10% were in cold storage wallets.
- The popular crypto exchange has decided to sell its business in Russia to CommEX, a crypto exchange business that was officially launched on Tuesday.
- Binance noted that it will fully exit the Russian market, and have no ongoing revenue split or any option to buy back shares in the business.
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- The company said it will be suspending its crypto-backed debit card service in the Middle East on 25 August, and in Latin America by 21 September.
- Although no reason was given for the decision, the company noted that “less than 1% of users” in those regions will be affected by the change.
- A spokesperson said the change was due to the “changing market and user needs”, and that Binance will now be refocusing its resources on its main products and long-term goals.
- Launched in March 2022, Binance Connect helped crypto businesses connect with the traditional finance system, and supported 50 cryptocurrencies and networks such as Visa and Mastercard.