As per ED Press release, WazirX’s main office in Mumbai has two-chairs and a desk in a cubicle rented at WeWork, a co-working space. Similarly, Binance’s headquarters is a post-box in the Cayman Islands. As per ED Press Release, Binance personnel can be reached only through an email address that rarely responds to ED’s queries.

The investigation regarding WazirX indicates how enquiries upon foreign crypto-exchanges can be utterly complicated with high chances of futility.

Anarchy is a norm for crypto-exchanges:

The concept of cryptocurrency was birthed to challenge and dismantle the current Central Bank controlled financial model, the key to the existence of national sovereignty. The very ambition of cryptocurrency and their current run-ins with law, across the world, should serve as a warning sign for India.

KuCoin is being investigated for unlawful activities by the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC). The Ontario Securities Commission of Canada has also slapped penalties on KuCoin for selling unregistered securities to Canadian citizens.

Binance is another crypto-exchange that is being investigated in the US for money laundering. The company is also embroiled in a similar investigation by the Enforcement Directorate of India.

Roger Ver, an early investor in both Binance and Kraken, is an ex-felon, convicted of selling explosives on eBay, in the US.

11 cases of evasion of GST by cryptocurrency exchanges have been detected by Central GST formations. The exchanges that were involved in alleged GST evasion were Zanmai Labs (WazirX), Coin DCX, CoinSwitch Kuber, Buy Ucoin, UnoCoin, Flitpay. Zeb IT Services (Zebpay), Secure Bitcoin Traders (Coinsecure), Giottus Technologies, Awlencan Innovations India (Zebpay), and Discidium Internet Labs (Koinex), according to the Finance Ministry.

The amount of charges and the seriousness of these offences against the crypto-exchanges should make any country wary of letting them operate without any regulations.

Chinese invasion through crypto route:

It is ironic that although China itself has banned cryptocurrencies and allied crypto businesses, China-origin companies and Chinese-origin founders are running crypto-exchanges in India.

Binance’s Changpeng Zhao is an ex-Chinese national who acquired Canadian citizenship. Binance originated in China and is now based in the tax haven of Cayman Islands.

Crypto coin

China invades India through crypto route

Bitcoin crashes to record-low of $21,000; crypto market cap slips below $1 trillion