🛑 YOU ALL HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS BREAKING STORY!

Gm, this is your favourite Doodhwala! We give you the best and most masaledaar crypto gossip, just like that neighbourhood aunty. You know the one I’m talking about.

Today is Saturday, but there’s no weekend recap.

We planned one, wrote it and stuff, but then something BIG happened.

Something that’s got us angry, confused, and laughing in disbelief.

And this something is the only story we have for you today.

No plot twists, tweets, or memes. Just one simple story.

Let’s dive in.

The curious case of WHO THE HELL owns WazirX??

Yesterday, we published a story titled — Factcheck: Is WazirX laundering money?

We put on our Jolly LLB 2 coat and defended WazirX, which we thought (like everyone else) was owned by Binance.

But late last night, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, basically said, ‘Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute, what’s this about an acquisition?’

This is what CZ said:

CZ says that Binance never really “acquired” WazirX’s parent company Zanmai Labs.

But tell us, why do WazirX and Binance BOTH have blog posts that say otherwise?

🤔

Btw, back in April 2021 when crypto prices were going through the roof, WazirX’s daily trading volume reached $400 million (Rs 3,100 crore), its highest ever in one day.

Back then, CZ had no problem calling WazirX “Binance-owned.”

So, why is WazirX being thrown out of the Binance family like me when I scored less marks in my 10th board exams?

Well, the timing is…a bit suspicious.

Yesterday, WazirX’s accounts worth Rs 62 crore ($7 million) were frozen by India’s Enforcement Directorate.

But…

The ED said WazirX assisted 16 fintech companies under investigation for money laundering. These fintech companies used WazirX to convert their laundered cash into crypto.

Here’s how they did it:

• Shady fintechs partner with even shadier NBFCs for lending licenses

• Set up a lending shop under their own name

• Hire tele-callers who threaten loan-seekers

• Extort loan seekers with high-interest rates

• Use this to purchase cryptos

• Launder them (allegedly using WazirX)

The kicker?

Many of these shady fintechs were backed by Chinese funds.

The bigger kicker?

The money laundered was allegedly sent to China. Read this for more info.

But wait…like any Bollywood movie…there’s more.

The ED is spilling some more dirt on WazirX.

Here are some other interesting findings:

• WazirX’s ownership structure is “complicated” and “obscure”

• WazirX violated KYC, didn’t conduct any enhanced due diligence (EDD), nor raised any suspicious transaction reports (STRs)

• WazirX’s suspicious transactions were done off the blockchain

• WazirX’s director failed to cooperate during the ED’s probe

• WazirX’s registered office is a two-seater WeWork space

This is looking worse for WazirX by the minute.

WazirX’s mess with the ED is a big one. This won’t go away quickly, not if they don’t cooperate.

It certainly puts a damper on India’s growing crypto scene.

WazirX was a real one. An OG.

And now it’s in deep shit.

Because WazirX is in deep shit, Binance, after 988 days (we did the math) is finally saying ‘we got nothing to do with that exchange that’s got ED problems.’

CZ very quickly painted himself and Binance as compliant with regulators.

CZ probably needs reminding that Binance is not the poster-boy of ‘compliant with regulators.’

Err, take a look at these headlines:

But you can’t fault Binance.

It’s a big exchange, facilitating billions of crypto transactions, and making tons of acquisitions across the globe.

Maybe Binance just forgot that it didn’t fully “acquire” WazirX, and the ED probe just reminded them of this minor lapse in judgement.

No big deal, to be honest.

CZ, don’t worry.

The Doodhwala’s got your back.

We’re here to always remind you that you once told every Indian you “owned” Binance.

So, we minted an NFT of your blog post on the Polygon blockchain.

You can find it here.

Unlike some people, the blockchain don’t lie.

That’s all for today bhaiyo aur bheno! Naale Sigona!

Aakash "Dahi Cheeni" Athawasya & Arvind "Doodh Peda" Krishna

Yo! Our legal and financial advisors (aka our good ol’ conscience) have asked us to add this boring disclaimer.

None of what you read here is financial advice. We aren’t here to get to buy or sell a crypto. We’re only here to tell you what’s up in crypto today and make you laugh. So, if you screwed up on a trade, that’s on you G. Stay safe in the markets.