With the incredible growth of the crypto industry in India, it can also be considered that it is simultaneously being ignored in the country. Hence, the time has come when the prominent from this industry take significant measures to protect investors and entrepreneurs working in it. Initiatives like the Transparency report by WazirX can help set the bedrock for a comprehensive understanding of why India needs to support such initiatives.

WazirX being the first-ever Crypto exchange in India to launch the Crypto Transparency report along with the policy think tank has brought more clarity and transparency, dispelling the myths that scare investors, policymakers and institutional partners from crypto. WazirX has not only set the bar high for the right context but also fostered innovation in the country, supporting the regulators to develop policy strategy through the report. Besides all, such initiatives also motivate the whole industry to be transparent with regards to the handling of government and law enforcement agencies information requests.

WazirX reviews legal procedures carefully and places them on the basis of previous requests received from various agencies. WazirX’s compliance rate for law enforcement requests has been 100% for over 377 requests. So far 14,000 accounts were locked by WazirX between April 2021 and Sep 2021 according to the cryptocurrency exchange’s first Transparency Report.

“During the period from April 2021 to September 2021, WazirX got 377 requests from law enforcement agencies (LEAs), out of which 38 requests were from Foreign Law enforcement agencies. All the legal information requests received were criminal in nature and our compliance rate has been 100 percent for the 377 requests,” WazirX said in a press release. “While coordinating with law enforcement agencies for the information requests, we validate each request to ensure that the concerned agency is entitled to the data they are requesting,” it added.

The company added that it locked 14,469 accounts during the period. “90% of these activities were user-driven (customer requests to close accounts) while 10% were initiated by our legal team who had to lock the concerned accounts due to payment disputes or ongoing investigations for LEA cases,” the exchange added.

The company’s Transparency Report is an initiative by the exchange to keep users updated about actions taken by it that impact its customers. It comes amid increased regulatory scrutiny on cryptocurrencies as an asset class, even as some authorities have flagged risks that come with cryptocurrency adoption, especially in areas such as money laundering and tax evasion etc.

WazirX maintains that it puts all customers through a KYC process in compliance with Indian laws.

“The transparency report is very important for us. Milestones like this are going to reshape the regulations and perception towards crypto in India. Initiatives such as the Transparency Report add credibility to the ecosystem and make the crypto world look more appealing to the outsiders. We aim to look at the bigger goals like positive regulations and consider ourselves paving the way to it through innovative approaches,” Nischal Shetty, CEO and Founder, WazirX said.

The company also launched ‘Blockchain Papers’ (BP), one of India’s first blockchain research and analysis platforms, with an aim to highlight the potential of blockchain technologies. The platform provides in-depth analysis and research on the developments in the decentralised blockchain ecosystem, impacting business, industries and economies around the world, WazirX said in the statement.

The BP team counts senior research associates and experienced journalists, among others, as the core members.

"The report and the Blockchain Papers Think Tank is part of our efforts to bring more clarity and build transparency for our users and policymakers in India around everything crypto. While the Transparency Report emphasises our commitment towards the community about being open on what's happening in the company and what initiatives we are taking in to protect them, the BP platform was created to ideate, analyse and record all the major movements in the blockchain world in the process of building web 3.0." Director of Public Policy, WazirX said.

Web 3.0 is defined as building the next generation of websites and apps, which are more “intelligent, connected and open”.

“BP will document, analyse and put forward arguments that will form the business fundamentals of Web 3.0 soon. The mission is to put forth arguments and ideas to help formulate policies on clear principles of democracy and decentralization,” WazirX said.

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)