Indian authorities freeze part of the assets of crypto exchange WazirX

According to the Federal Enforcement Directorate, the amount of assets frozen was $8.16 million

05.08.2022 - 16:35

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What’s new? India's Federal Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen the assets of Binance-owned cryptocurrency exchange WazirX due to suspicions of money laundering. The amount was 646,70 million rupees ($8,16 million). The agency said it was investigating the crypto-exchange's involvement in helping instant loan companies launder criminal proceeds by converting them into cryptocurrencies on the platform.

Information on Reuters' website

What is known about WazirX? It is India's leading centralized exchange, which was founded in 2018. According to the resource Coingecko, the platform has a reliability rating of 7/10, and its trading turnover is 5,35 million dollars per day. There are 209 cryptocurrencies traded on the exchange, with USDT/INR being the most active trading pair.

In early August, India's economic intelligence agency suspected WazirX of laundering $350 million. The Ministry of Finance noted that the exchange allowed foreign users to convert one cryptocurrency to another on its platform, as well as through transfers from third-party exchanges such as FTX and Binance. In addition, transactions between Binance and WazirX were not made via blockchain.

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