Crypto exchange WazirX blocked 2,431 accounts between Oct 2022-March 2023

WazirX received 431 requests from law enforcement agencies, against a total transaction volume of $390 million during the above-mentioned period

WazirX blacklisted 2,431 accounts between October 2022 and March 2023, it said in its 4th Transparency Report released on Tuesday. The accounts were removed by the crypto exchange based on their internal transaction monitoring process or after directions from Law Enforcement agencies (LEAs). 

"We also continued to proactively report suspicious transactions to law enforcement agencies such as the Financial Intelligence Unit, India (FIU-IND)," the company said in the report. 

The exchange received 431 requests from LEAs, against a total transaction volume of $390 million during the above-mentioned period. "46 requests were from Foreign LEAs and 385 requests from Indian LEAs," the company said. 

The report comes just days after the Centre brought virtual digital assets (VDAs) under the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. According to the government notification, the exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies, the exchange between one or more forms of virtual digital assets and the transfer of digital assets will be covered under money laundering laws.

The definition of 'virtual assets' would include cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens.

Broadly, this means that any financial wrongdoing involving cryptocurrency assets can now be investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Additionally, the FIU-IND under the Department of Revenue will be responsible for receiving, processing, analysing, and disseminating the information relating to suspect financial transactions.

WazirX has been maintaining the records with FIU-IND, it said. 

"WazirX also 2proactively identified accounts with suspicious activities with the help of third-party platforms, and shared the information with the FIU-IND," the company said. 

"We also kept up our ongoing efforts of collaborating with LEAs to make Crypto free of any fraudulent activities, and usher in an environment of trust," Rajagopal Menon, vice president (VP), WazirX.

Last week, another crypto firm CoinDCX announced that it had registered itself as the "reporting entity" with the Finance Ministry. These entities are required to maintain the KYC records of the customers under PLMA, 2002.