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The mystery  behind Binance’s ownership of WazirX

TL;DR

  • CZ tweeted that “Binance does not own any equity in Zanmai Labs, the entity operating WazirX.”
  • In November 2019, Binance shared a blog saying that it bought WazirX
  • After the raid on WazirX, Binance took an UTurn and claimed that it did not own the Indian Exchange

With CZ’s recent tweet, the debate over Binance’s ownership of WazirX took another sharp turn. On 5th august last year, CZ tweeted that “Binance does not own any equity in Zanmai Labs, the entity operating WazirX.” The tweet came after the raid of Indian officials on the WazirX’s Mumbai office. What happened between these two top exchanges is not a new one. The acceptance and denial of ownership of WazirX by Binance have been happening for the last few years.

Story of WazirX and Binance

In November 2019, Binance shared a blog saying that it bought WazirX, the largest Indian cryptocurrency exchange. The WazirX executives openly talked about the agreement. But things turned unexpectedly last summer when Indian officials raided the WazirX’s office (in Mumbai). The exchange was suspected of having helped sixteen different fintech companies of laundering the money.

After the raid, CZ took an UTurn and claimed that it did not own the Indian Exchange. It shared a blog that stated that the agreement between WazirX and Binance was limited to certain assets and properties. There was not any agreement on owning the whole exchange. A few days later, CZ distances his exchange with a tweet. His tweet says that his exchange does not own WazirX.

After the tweet, the back-and-forth statement came. CZ’s team claimed that the transaction of owning WazirX never happened; on the other hand, the officials of Indian Exchange claimed that it did. Additionally, the official claimed that they had proof of the transaction and would show the proof to the concerned authorities, but they never did that.

CoinDesk recent revelation

Recently CoinDesk claimed that it had obtained a few emails which say a different story. The CoinDesk reported that the spokesperson of Binance claimed to CoinDesk that Binance’s ownership of WazirX was a complete lie. The report says that CZ’s exchange sent a letter to WazirX on January 25 January. The letter says that WazirX needs to meet two demands at the end of January; otherwise, Binance will terminate its service agreements with WazirX from February 3 February onwards.

The first demand says that WazirX has to publish a clarification statement in which WazirX will have to retract the previous statement that Binance owns WazirX. Additionally, WazirX is also compelled to remove all references to Binance from its terms of service.

In response to this letter, WazirX, now Zanmai, issued a letter that CoinDesk obtained. The letter says that CZ’s exchange demands are unethical, and it is an attempt to force Zanmai to issue a false clarification. The CEO of WazirX refuses to share any statement or retract his previous statement.

In the letter, the CEO, Nischal Shetty, writes that he has not made any false statement regarding Binance’s ownership of WazirX. Additionally, he writes that CZ’s exchange controls WazirX user assets, and he will not deny that.

Additionally, he further said that CZ’s exchange had taken profit from WazirX, and according to him, it took more than 67M dollars in profit from the trading fee on WazirX. He claimed that CZ’s exchange had sent these to its internal accounts, which the platform controls. He even attached an email as proof of his allegations.

Moreover, he attached a few documents to the letter. The agreement, dated January 13, 2020, assigns ownership of specific WazirX accounts to Binance (the identities of those accounts have been redacted by CoinDesk)

Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.

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Haseeb Shaheen

As a Web Researcher and Internet Marketer, Haseeb Shaheen delivers relevant valuable content for audiences. He focuses on financial and crypto market analysis, as well as technology-related areas that help people change their lives.

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