Allegations made by Binance 'false and unsubstantiated', says WazirX

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX said that the allegations made against it by the world's biggest crypto exchange Binance were "false and unsubstantiated". It added that the exchange was taking steps to protect its "legal rights".

"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," it said in a blog post.

This comes just days after Binance gave an ultimatum to Zanmai Labs, the parent company of WazirX, to not spread "false claims" and stop using Binance's wallets by February 3.

"It is in the interests of Binance and the public that Zanmai is not permitted to perpetuate false narratives based on their use of Binance's wallet services. We view such false claims as an attempt to shift the responsibility for WazirX's operations to Binance. On January 26, 2023, we offered Zanmai a choice between retracting the false public statements (and continuing to use our services) or terminating the use of our wallet service. Since Zanmai has refused to clarify their misleading statements, Zanmai has till February 3, 2023, to remove the funds from the accounts that they used for WazirX's operations," it said.

In response, WazirX tweeted that it was in the process of transferring the funds and expected to complete the job "within hours". "Users can continue to trade, deposit & withdraw funds as usual," the tweet said. "Your funds are safe with us." The amount wasn't disclosed.

The latest blog post signals that the fund transfer was complete.

"WazirX users do not have to be concerned about Binance's announcement. We have made arrangements to ensure that WazirX's digital assets are stored in accordance with industry-leading standards. Users can continue to trade, deposit, and withdraw their funds as usual," it said.

The spat between the two exchanges became public in August 2022 when the Enforcement Directorate launched an investigation for alleged money laundering against Zanmai Labs. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that Binance does not own WazirX. But in 2019, it announced the acquisition of WazirX.

WazirX's co-Founder Nischal Shetty rebuffed Chao's claims and said that the claim that Binance does not own WazirX was wrong.

"The technology, the product, the domain, the brand and everything was sold by our Singapore entity Zettai to Binance," Shetty said. Zanmai Labs is the Indian arm of Zettai.

Since then, the tussle between the two exchanges over WazirX's ownership has remained hot.