The business bank account of cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has been “unfrozen” or reactivated by India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) more than a month after it was frozen by the organization, the firm stated on Monday.
According to a statement from the exchange posted on Monday, the Enforcement Directorate of India (ED) has unfrozen the bank accounts of the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX. The ED blocked the exchange’s bank account last month as part of an ongoing probe into alleged fraud on rapid loan applications, which provide short-term loans. The WazirX platform had been used by some of the 16 fintech firms under investigation, the business claimed in a blog post on Monday.
According to WazirX, it has been helping local authorities with their Anti-Money Laundering (AML) investigation by supplying all the required paperwork and information. However, the exchange declared that it had zero tolerance for any unlawful activity on the site.
It further stated that WazirX has barred the majority of the targeted users in the ED probe in 2020–2021 after flagging them as suspicious. According to WazirX, the matter is still being investigated, but money has been released because no suspicious behavior has been discovered.
What Led to the Seizure
Since the ED first disclosed the probe on August 5, money in WazirX bank accounts has been frozen. The exchange was being investigated by the ED in 2021 for allegations of money laundering involving earnings from unlawful online gambling linked to Chinese organizations. The total amount of the monies that were locked out was $8.1 million.
This time, WazirX was not the only cryptocurrency exchange targeted by the government’s crackdown. In all, $46.4 million in Yellow Tune’s bank accounts and balances from the cryptocurrency exchange Flipvolt were frozen by the ED on August 12. The corporation was charged with being a front for Chinese organizations, and the charges allegedly involved money laundering.
Authorities stated that the money would not be available until the exchange could explain the illegal gains it sent abroad. After the Indian government announced onerous new crypto tax legislation that went into force earlier this year, these probes started to mount.
