WazirX resumes banking operations after account freeze lifted

India’s financial crime fighting agency has allowed WazirX to resume banking operations after unfreezing its bank accounts, the crypto exchange said on Monday.

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Fast facts

• WazirX, one of India’s largest crypto exchanges by trading volume, said in a statement that its active cooperation in the Enforcement Directorate’s ongoing money laundering investigation led to the agency clearing its funds.

• The agency froze WazirX’s US$8.1 million account after exchange director Sameer Mahtre’s properties were raided last month to investigate his alleged involvement in assisting some 16 fintech firms in laundering crime proceeds through crypto channels.
• The investigation is part of the rise of so-called Chinese “illegal loan apps” scams, which has triggered the Indian government to crackdown on such applications and its Chinese shell companies.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has tasked the Reserve Bank of India, the nation’s central bank, with generating a “whitelist” of all permitted apps.

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