WazirX To Seek Legal Recourse In Ongoing Row With Binance

The WazirX-Binance row refuses to settle down as the Indian crypto exchange has said it would seek legal recourse against its Chinese counterpart. WazirX also called Binance’s allegations against it ‘false’ and ‘misleading’.

“The allegations made by Binance in their blog are false and unsubstantiated. As far as Binance’s actions are concerned, we are taking the necessary steps to seek recourse and protect our legal rights,” said WazirX in a blog post dated February 7.

The move comes after Binance terminated wallet service for WazirX, telling the Indian crypto exchange to withdraw all of its funds before February 3.

In a blog post, Binance said that it wrote a letter to WazirX on January 26 and asked them to retract the statements made back in August 2022 about the nature of the two companies’ relationship.

“Zanmai has made a series of misleading claims related to Binance’s alleged role in and responsibility for operating the WazirX exchange. The false and misleading narrative put forth to the public misrepresented Binance as maintaining control over WazirX users’ assets, user activity, and the platform’s operations,” the crypto exchange wrote.

The Chinese crypto exchange also said WazirX was trying to ‘shift responsibility’ for its operations to Binance.

The controversy surrounding the two crypto exchanges dates back to August 5, 2022, when Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said on Twitter that his company did not acquire Nischal Shetty’s WazirX. 

“Binance does not own any equity in Zanmai Labs, the entity operating WazirX and established by the original founders,” Zhao had written, prompting Shetty to hit back in a very public spat on Twitter.

Shetty responded to Zhao by claiming that his crypto exchange acquired WazirX and that the entity is different from Zanmai Labs, another exchange founded by him and his cofounders.

Speaking of the aforementioned letter, Binance had asked WazirX to issue a clarification and remove mentions of Binance from its terms of service. However, Shetty has since responded by stating that Zanmai Labs made no false claims.

“Zanmai has not made any false or misleading statements regarding Binance’s role and responsibility in operating the WazirX platform, and Binance’s control over WazirX’s user assets,” Shetty said.

WazirX was supposedly acquired by Binance in November 2019. If Shetty’s claims are to be believed, then the CZ-led crypto exchange owns WazirX’s domain name, root access to AWS servers, crypto assets and crypto profits.

It is also interesting to note that the row between the two crypto exchanges about its ownership emerged as Indian authorities alleged tax evasion against WazirX.

As the two companies refuse to back down, the users have been assured by both of them that their funds are safe. Binance said Zanmai is withdrawing funds and it’s up to them to do so expeditiously, while WazirX said “users do not have to be concerned about Binance’s announcement”.

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