Between October 2022 and March 2023, Indian crypto exchange Wazirx placed over 2,400 accounts on the blacklist, according to its fourth transparency report. The decision was made based on WazirX’s internal transaction monitoring process and directives from law enforcement agencies (LEAs).

WazirX Received 431 Requests from LEAs Related to Account Blocking and Criminal Proceedings

India-based crypto exchange WazirX said it had blocked more than 2,431 accounts from October 2022 to March 2023 at the behest of law-enforcement requests. The company received 431 requests from LEAs for a total transaction value of $390 million on the platform during that period, WazirX said in its fourth transparency report published Tuesday.

The majority of requests were related to account blocking, suspected criminal cases, and investigation, the exchange added. 46 requests it received came from international LEAs and 385 from local Indian agencies, WazirX said. Over the six months, WazirX said it has participated in over 396,000 user interactions.

WazirX said it promptly responded to LEA requests, adding its compliance rate and accuracy “was 100%.” In addition to LEA directives, the company’s decision to blacklist more than 2,400 accounts was initiated based on the exchange’s internal transaction monitoring process.

“Suspension/Blocking of a user’s account is subject to our terms and conditions i.e., when there is a violation of policies, deficient or suspicious KYC, or if we notice our platform is being used for illegal activities, we suspend/block the account of the user.”

– WazirX wrote in the transparency report.

India Continues With Efforts to Regulate Digital Assets

Earlier this month, the finance ministry of India announced it would require local crypto exchanges and entities that deal with digital assets to carry out know-your-client (KYC) due diligence on their users. Under the terms of the law, entities must maintain a record of all transactions of over $12,200 for a minimum of five years.

The move marked the latest effort by Indian authorities to tighten the regulatory grip of digital assets in the country – one of its top priorities outlined in the financial stability report published in December 2022. In that document, India listed three possible ways to regulate digital assets, including imposing an outright ban, regulating them like traditional financial intermediaries, or making them “systemically irrelevant” by allowing them to “implode.”

Trading volumes on Indian crypto exchanges have shrunk significantly since the government imposed a 30% tax on crypto income, causing local traders to transfer over $3.8 billion in trading volume to international crypto bourses.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.