Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has stopped providing wallet services to Indian crypto exchange WazirX, asking it to withdraw any remaining assets held in Binance wallets no later than 11:59 PM UTC, Feb. 3.
See related article: India’s WazirX crypto exchange releases proof of reserves, says 90% of user assets in Binance wallets
Fast facts
- Binance said in a Friday blog post that it is terminating its wallet services to WazirX due to misleading statements about the two companies’ relationship made by Zanmai Labs, the entity operating the Indian exchange.
- According to Binance, Zanmai was offered a choice between retracting “false public statements” or ending the two companies’ collaboration. Binance added that it was terminating the partnership as it hasn’t received a satisfactory response from Zanmai.
- In January, crypto outlet CoinDesk reported that Binaince had demanded WazirX to post a pre-written statement that said Binance was not the owner of the Indian exchange. WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty said last summer that he had the legal documents to prove otherwise. Zanmai reportedly called the private request “unethical.”
- Binance also requested that WazirX remove Binance’s name from its terms and services.
- The latest development is part of an ongoing feud between Binance and WazirX that culminated following a November 2019 announcement that said Binance had acquired the Indian business.
- The partnership started to sour last August when WazirX headquarters in Mumbai was raided by Indian authorities on suspicion of money laundering.
- Binance has since attempted to distance itself from WazirX, indicating that their deal was “limited to an agreement to buy specific assets and intellectual property.”
- In August, Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao tweeted that his company did not own shares in Zanmai Labs and shuttered Binance’s off-chain fund transfer channel with WazirX.
See related article: Binance to stop off-chain transfers with India’s WazirX
