WazirX says ED has unfrozen bank accounts, allowing it to continue ops

Cryptocurrency exchange platform said it is cooperating with agency in its investigation of 16 fintech companies and instant loan apps

Cryptocurrency exchange platform WazirX said on Monday the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unfrozen its bank accounts after more than a month in a case involving suspected violation of foreign exchange regulations.

"After an in-depth internal investigation, WazirX noticed that most of the users whose information was sought by ED were already identified as suspicious by WazirX internally and were already blocked in 2020-2021," said the company in a statement, adding it can now "continue its banking operations as usual".

The ED is investigating 16 fintech companies and instant loan apps, some of whom used WazirX’s platform. WazirX said it is cooperating with the ED by providing it with information and documents of the companies being investigated.

WazirX said it has a no-tolerance policy for illegal activities on its platform and asks users to use it for legal purposes. "On WazirX, the users undertake to operate as per all the applicable laws."

The company said it is not associated with any of the companies the ED is investigating and it is carrying out KYC/AML (Know Your Customer/ Anti-Money Laundering) checks though it has no legal obligation to do so.

"Due to the active cooperation extended by WazirX and active anti-money laundering (AML) checks that led to the blocking of suspicious accounts, ED has unfreezed the bank accounts of WazirX. WazirX is now in a position to continue its banking operations as usual," it said.