Binance Issues February 3 Ultimatum To Zanmai-Run WazirX Exchange

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Zanmai Labs, the company behind Indian crypto trading venue WazirX, has until 11:59 PM UTC on February 3, 2023, to withdraw all assets in Binance accounts used for WazirX operations, an official blog post released on Friday said. 

The announcement added that Zanmai has been invited to agree upon how any balances, funds, and assets held in Binance wallets will be settled before the deadline. 

As an exception, we have invited Zanmai to work out arrangements with us to withdraw any remaining assets in the relevant accounts after 3 February. However, the responsibility ultimately lies with the Zanmai team to make the withdrawals expeditiously.

Friday’s blog post said Zanmai refused to retract supposedly misleading statements about Binance’s relations with the Indian crypto exchange and its control over WazirX operations. This decision has seemingly forced CZ’s company to end its relationship with Zanmai.  

Binance Zanmai Fued 

Initially, Binance published a blog post in November 2019 suggesting that the company had acquired WazirX. Later in August 2022, CEO Changpeng Zhao said that the agreement with Zanmai Labs was a limited transaction and mainly entailed providing wallet support for the Indian crypto exchange. Zhao also added that his company owned zero equity in Zanmai Labs. 

CZ’s clarification came around the time when WazirX was accused of aiding fintech entities in a money scheme and the Indian government seized some $8.1 million of WazirX’s assets. The platform’s co-founder, Nischal Shetty, noted that CZ’s company lied about the acquisition and played a more hands-on role in WazirX’s day-to-day operations than admitted. 

Quick thread on Binance and WazirX, and some incorrect reporting.

Binance does not own any equity in Zanmai Labs, the entity operating WazirX and established by the original founders.

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In response, CZ’s company fired a letter to Zanmai and Shetty, demanding clarification of the statements made. Shetty and Zanmai refused, saying that the request was “unethical” and an attempt to strongarm the company into making false statements. 

The move from Binance to cut off WazirX could spell trouble for the Indian exchange. Per a proof-of-reserves report, WazirX holds around 90% of its customer’s assets on Binance wallets. However, CZ previously promised that his company would not hurt users by disabling support for WazirX wallets until a resolution is reached. 

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