It seems that the dispute over Binance's acquisition of Indian cryptocurrency trading platform WazirX is still alive and not subsiding.
Back in November 2019, the acquisition of WazirX by Binance, the world's most influential cryptocurrency exchange, was revealed in a blog post. This was confirmed by responsible persons at WazirX.
However, last summer the Indian government accused WazirX of misconduct, and this marked a change. In early August, WazirX's Mumbai office was raided by Indian authorities in connection with suspected money laundering for 16 fintech companies.
Binance has therefore changed its blog post to indicate that it is not a purchase, but an agreement on certain assets and intellectual property.
The dispute over who owns WazirX continues to this day — however, on January 26 (a national holiday in India) there was a peak of tension between the two companies. Binance has sent WazirX an ultimatum detailing its demands, which must be met by the end of February 3 or they will sever all ties.
These demands include the publication of a statement refuting Nishal Shetty's previous statements and the removal of any references to Binance in the terms of service. If this is not done, 90% of users' assets will be lost as they are stored in wallets managed by Binance - as Changpeng Zhao said when he suggested transferring funds to his exchange after the raid on WazirX last August.
One wonders what the ultimatum entails, given Changpeng Zhao's statement - a change in attitude or any other compelling factors in the manipulation of customers' money.
