Binance, WazirX ownership fight has users in a fix

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

public spat between global cryptocurrency platform Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (known as CZ) and WazirX cofounder Nischal Shetty has hit about 15 million of the registered users (as of August) of the Indian crypto exchange. Meanwhile, Zanmai Labs, which operates WazirX in India, is exploring the legal route amid an ownership dispute with the world’s largest exchange by volume, according to sources. Zhao tweeted on Saturday that users on WazirX should transfer their funds to Binance, causing widespread panic, investors told ET.

“We could shut down WazirX. But we can't, because...It hurts users,” CZ tweeted on Saturday. A day later, Binance disabled off-chain transfers to WazirX, according to a user screenshot that ET has reviewed, severing users’ ability to transfer funds between the two exchanges internally.

Off-chain transactions take place outside of blockchain. Young crypto investors whose portfolios have been hammered by a decline in the prices of cryptos and the prohibitive tax regime in India have expressed concern over the safety of their funds on WazirX and the consequences of a soured relationship between the two companies. Aditi Khandelwal from Jaipur withdrew all her funds from WazirX on Saturday.

As a retail investor, understanding an issue as complicated as the ownership structure of a company on Twitter was overwhelming, she said. “My decision has been building up since Luna’s collapse. This week's events were a tipping point,” the 24-year-old said.

Khandelwal was referring to the breakdown of Terra, a blockchain that ran “algorithmic” stable coins Luna and UST, in May. UST lost over 80% in value over a week, while Luna, its sister token, went from $118 in April to $0.0003 in mid-May. “Right now, there is no