Binance Moves Into India, Acquires Wazirx Exchange

Binance, one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges, has started to take steps into the Indian subcontinent. In the midst of the “India Wants Crypto” movement happening in the country caused by a crypto ban, it’s a bold move of the company. Wazirx’s CEO, Nischal Shetty, expresses his confidence that the Indian government will take crypto in with open arms.

The First of Its Kind

The Wazirx exchange, based in Mumbai, is now the official holder of the rather amusing title of being the first India-based crypto exchange that was acquired by a larger international one. Shetty stated that the Binance exchange was looking for new ways to expand its ecosystem by way of introducing fiat gateways. As a result, Wazirx’s peer-to-peer (P2P) Indian exchange has gained their attention as a way to facilitate an INR fiat onramp.

Wazirx launched its P2P functions shortly after the Reserve Bank of India released a circular. This new circular effectively banned all financial institutions from providing their services to businesses that work with crypto. As a result, the banks quickly started closing the accounts of crypto businesses and effectively barring them from converting their crypto into INR.

Nothing Changed, Just New Support

Shetty told the public that the exchange would work the same way it has worked in the past. The only difference, according to Shetty, is that Wazirx is now capable of tapping into Binanc’s global ecosystem for support. He considers this a good thing for the crypto industry in India overall.

The Wazirx P2P engine will quickly be integrated within the Binance Fiat Gateway platform. This will allow users to purchase the USDT cryptocurrency through Wazirx’s P2P platform. Shetty gave the good news that the Wazirx P2P will be available in the Binance’s Buy Crypto page at the month’s end. Wazirx will achieve “deep integration” by the end of the first quarter in 2020. Shetty explained that Binance would help increase the liquidity of crypto in the Indian subcontinent.

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, gave his mandatory kind words about the matter as well. He explained that Wazirx’s acquisition is a testament to the company’s dedication and commitment to the Indian people. He stated that the move would strengthen India’s blockchain ecosystem as well as taking freedom of money one step closer to fruition.

The Crypto Bill of India

India has had a hard time to validate its crypto ecosystem. The two critical issues that bar this is both the banking ban and the threat of the introduction of the crypto bill. Other than the RBI banning banking firms of doing business with crypto, the bill is proving a substantial threat to crypto. The aptly named “Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019” will allow authorities to imprison crypto users for up to ten years should they be found with it.