- Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX recieved 377 requests from law enforcement agencies, both Indian and foreign, in the past six months.
- Since April 2021, 14,469 accounts have been locked, including the 377 pertaining to criminal activity.
- WazirX also reiterated its stance on how cryptocurrencies are not a replacement for fiat currencies, like the rupee.
Indian cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX, received 377 requests for information from law enforcement agencies between April to September 2021. According to the company’s October Transparency Report, it has complied with all of them.
"All law enforcement queries appear to be related to criminal proceedings, such as fraud, kidnapping and narcotics-related queries."
Excerpt from WazirX’s Transparency Report dated October 11
Overall, 14,469 accounts that have been locked since April 2021, 90% of them include both law enforcement agency-related requests, and others remain P2P or other user disputes which are “very common,” according to the company’s spokesperson.
The report, as well as the guidelines it highlights like know-your-customer compliance and investor education, comes at a time when India is in the throes of forming its own cryptocurrency regulation.
Cryptocurrency exchanges in India, like WazirX, have been partnering up under the umbrella of advocacy groups like the Internet and Mobile Association of India’s (IAMAI) Blockchain and
Crypto Assets Council (BACC) and IndiaTech to push for self regulation.
"Initiatives such as the transparency report add credibility to the ecosystem and make the crypto world look more appealing to outsiders. We aim to look at the bigger goals like positive regulations and consider ourselves paving the way to it through innovative approaches.”
Statement by Nischal Shetty, CEO and founder of WazirX
WazirX maintains that cryptocurrencies are not meant to replace the rupee
The company’s transparency report, the first of its kind around cryptocurrencies in India, iterates that WazirX does not consider cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin or otherwise, to be a replacement for fiat currencies.
“Crypto is an asset class and a utility on decentralised networks.” it said in the October Transparency Report. Simply put, while WazirX agrees that cryptocurrencies are essential for the ecosystem — one needs Ether to use any Ethereum application — it’s not a substitute for the rupee.
Other aspects of the report include the importance of transparency, mechanisms in place to monitor for illicit activity, investor protection, and crypto education in India.
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