Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is terminating wallet services to Zanmai, the operator of Indian crypto exchange WazirX, as the firm has refused to clarify its "misleading statements."
Binance said in a blog post that Zanman declined to clarify its relationship with the exchange and the firm now has the time till Feb. 3, 2023 (23:59 UTC) to remove the funds from the trading platform used for WazirX's operations.
In November 2019, Binance announced in its blog post it had acquired WazirX for an undisclosed price. Later, in summer 2022, WazirX faced scrutiny from the Indian government over alleged money laundering on instant loan applications.
Binance publicly distanced itself from WazirX, saying that the acquisition deal was never completed. Binance's boss, Changpeng Zhao, wrote in a tweet that his exchange "does not own any equity in Zanmai Labs, the entity operating WazirX."
However, in late January, CoinDesk revealed, citing an internal letter, that Binance required from WazirX to publish a "clarificatory statement," retracting previous statements that the Indian exchange was acquired by Binance. WazirX Co-Founder, Nischal Shetty, responded back, saying that "Zanmai transferred the control and ownership over the WazirX platform to Binance."
Binance acknowledged that it has been providing Zanmai with its wallet services, but "only as a tech solution." The exchange has emphasized that it "has never managed or controlled WazirX’s operations."
In a tweet post published on Friday, WazirX said it had "initiated the process of transferring assets to multi-sig wallets, which we expect to be fully completed within the next few hours."
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