Changpeng Zhao denies Binance connection to Indian bitcoin exchange WazirX

Binance has never owned a stake in Zanmai Labs, the company behind Indian platform WazirX. The CEO stated thisbitcoin exchange Changpeng Zhao.

On November 21, 2019, the company announced the purchase of WazirX. As of November 25, users in India have been able to buy and sell digital assets with their local currency through Binance, according to the press release.

“This deal never took place. Binance has never - at any point - owned shares in Zanmai Lab, which runs WazirX,” Zhao said.

According to him, the exchange provides the Indian platform with a technical solution for the wallet. For other functions, including registration and KYC, Zhao named WazirX and the firm behind it responsible.

In August 2022, the Enforcement Department of the Indian Ministry of Finance suspected WazirX of laundering $350 million. According to media reports, the regulator froze the assets of the exchange for $8.16 million as part of the case.

The investigation into the platform's violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act initially became known in June 2021. 

Later, the media clarified that the authorities are studying the activities of applications managed by Chinese operators - part of the money was allegedly laundered through a Bitcoin exchange.

At the beginning of 2022, the platform was accused of tax evasion in the amount of more than $6 million.

Recall that in July, Reuters released an investigation according to which Binance continued to serve customers from Iran, bypassing US sanctions and a ban on doing business in this country.

Exchange Compliance Representativesrequirements refuted the conclusions of journalists. They also noted that the company lost "about 90% of customers and billions of dollars of revenue" due to the introduction of KYC. Zhao later called this quotation erroneous.

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