WazirX to resume banking operations

September 13, 2022

The Enforcement Directorate unfroze the bank accounts of cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, the firm announced in an update on its website. “Due to the active cooperation extended by WazirX and active Anti-money laundering (AML) checks that led to the blocking of suspicious accounts, ED has unfrozen the bank accounts of WazirX. WazirX is now in a position to continue its banking operations as usual,” the firm said.

Sixteen fintech companies who were using WazirX were under investigation, and the exchange said it had already frozen their accounts after detecting suspicious activity on their part in 2020–21. The Enforcement Directorate had frozen assets worth ₹64.67 crores in August. These fintechs were Chinese-controlled digital lenders, the ED had said.

In a press release at that time, the agency complained that WazirX’s company registrations were obscuring its ownership, and that its office was just a “2 chair” coworking space, with most employees working from home. Binance, which owns WazirX, rarely replied to legal requests sent to them, the agency further said, adding that WazirX was not providing the agency with suspicious transaction details.

“By encouraging obscurity and having lax AML norms, it has actively assisted around 16 accused fintech companies in laundering the proceeds of crime using the crypto route,” the ED had then said.