It is unarguable that WazirX ranks among India’s top five crypto exchanges. However, multiple reports from local news outlets reveal that the firm is set to move its headquarters from India to Dubai. The news might be credible given that the co-founders have already relocated to Dubai with their families.
Implications Of New Crypto Tax Policy
Industry experts opined that WazirX’s decision to move might not be unconnected with the recently imposed 30% tax on cryptos (and an additional 1% tax for each crypto transaction) by the nation’s authorities. Nischal Shetty, a co-founder of the WazirX, might have previously hinted about relocating the company’s headquarters to Dubai.
Before implementing this crypto tax policy, Shetty revealed in an interview that many crypto firms would shift their base if the government executed the crypto policy. Now that the government has implemented the policy, it is only logical that WazirX will relocate as indicated by one of its founders. Daily trade volumes on WazirX consistently exceed $26M. The Indian crypto community will feel their absence even though they have been in a running battle with authorities over the legality of some aspects of their operations in recent months.
Making Decisions From Dubai
Per the India Business Today, WazirX co-founders have already relocated to Dubai for a while and have been running its affairs from their new location. The report also indicated that the company’s CTO (Sameer Mhatre) also relocated along with his bosses a few months after his bosses relocated.
The India business today further revealed that the majority of the company’s employees are remote workers. WazirX was bought over by Binance 2019, twelve months after its launch. Its userbase of nearly 11M active members makes the firm responsible for controlling a large percentage of India’s crypto space. WazirX will be joining polygon, which already moved its headquarters to Dubai three years ago.
Following the news of India’s new crypto policy, polygon founder, Sandeep Nailwal, opined that India is causing a massive crypto brain drain with its highly confusing crypto policies. The new crypto tax policy indicates that Indian authorities aren’t friendly to crypto investors and players. Nirmala Sitharman (a top government official) recently opined that crypto is mainly used for illegal financial transactions and terrorist financing.
Dubai Is The New Favorite Destination For Crypto Players
Many crypto players have been moving to Dubai since the start of the year when the authorities passed a crypto-friendly policy. Binance, WazirX, and FTX are among the top crypto firms that recently obtained their operating license in the tourist-attractive nation.
Hence, they are likely to be joined by many other top crypto-related firms soon. Binance chief executive, CZ, even tweeted recently that the controversial exchange is considering having its headquarters in Dubai.
Dubai officially approved its first crypto policy last month. Part of the policy involved establishing an agency that performs oversight functions over the crypto space. One of the near-term plans is to create various jurisdictions that facilitate further crypto adoption and development.
