India’s cryptocurrency exchange WazirX on 14 October, said it blocked at least 377 user accounts in response to requests from Indian as well as foreign law enforcement agencies during April-September 2021. Requests from Indian authorities stand at 339 and 38 from foreign agencies.
The disclosure is part of the transparency report for the first six months of the financial year 2021-22. WazirX said it would be publishing semi-annual transparency reports going forward, documenting requests to identify any transactional wrongdoings.
During this period (April-Sep 2021), WazirX received a show-cause notice from Enforcement Directorate concerning the transactions between WazirX wallets and Binance wallets, and queries from law enforcement agencies concerning the use of the platform for the drug trade. WazirX partnered with blockchain intelligence startup TRM Labs for wallet screening and risk management.
Also read: WazirX parent Binance faces legal challenges around the world
The Binance group company notes that the legal information requests received are all criminal in nature and the compliance rate of these requests has been 100%. The requests are related to activities such as fraud, kidnapping and narcotics-related queries note the 14-page document released by WazirX.
The report further reveals that 14,469 accounts have been locked during the period of which 90% of these activities are user-driven and 10% are initiated were locked due to payment disputes or ongoing investigations for legal enforcement agency cases.
Meanwhile, WazirX also announced ‘Blockchainpapers.in’, Blockchain research and analysis think tank website, with an idea to build visibility for the platform and increase the user base by highlighting the USPs.
The platform provides in-depth analysis on the developments in the decentralised blockchain ecosystem, impacting business, industries and economies around the world with an aim to create web 3.0.
“The transparency report is very important for us. Milestones like this are going to reshape the regulations and perception towards crypto in India. We have been recognised as a unicorn, looking at our performance, market cap and volumes. However, evaluation is not intrinsic for us. Initiatives such as the transparency report add credibility to the ecosystem and make the crypto world look more appealing to the outsiders. We aim to look at the bigger goals like positive regulations and consider ourselves paving the way to it through innovative approaches”, said Nischal Shetty, CEO and Founder, WazirX.
Aritra Sarkhel, Director of Public Policy, at WazirX added, “The report and the think tank is part of our efforts to bring more clarity and build transparency for our users and policy makers in India around everything crypto. While the Transparency report emphasises our commitment towards the community about being open on what’s happening in the company and what initiatives we are taking in to protect them, the BP platform was created to ideate, analyse and record all the major movements in the blockchain world in the process of building web 3.0.”
