New Delhi: Nischal Shetty and Siddharth Menon, co-founders of Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, have shifted their base from India to Dubai, according to a Business Today report. Shetty and Menon have moved out of India with their families to Dubai although WazirX still has offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Notably, Sameer Mhatre, co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer at WazirX, continues to operate from India. At present, all employees of the cryptocurrency exchange, which is backed by Binance, are working remotely.
Responding to the Business Today query, a WazirX spokesperson said in a statement that the exchange is a remote-first organisation with employees in over 70 locations.
Wazir Releases Statement:
“We are a remote-first organisation with employees from over 70+ locations. This gives all the company employees the option to work from anywhere, subject to their comfort and convenience unless they are required to travel officially. WazirX is headquartered in Mumbai and Bengaluru, and there is no change in any of our operating procedures. It is business as usual,” the statement to Business Today said.
Hours after the report became public, WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty took to Twitter and posted a sceptical tweet saying “Crypto has no boundaries”
Crypto has no boundaries#Web3
— Nischal (Shardeum) ⚡️ (@NischalShetty) April 19, 2022
Govt Imposes Tax On Crypto:
To recall, the Modi government had announced a 30 per cent tax on any income from the transfer of virtual digital assets, specifying that no deductions and exemptions will be allowed. This has hit hard private cryptocurrency exchanges and apps.
“No Crypto bill but taxation at 30 per cent of virtual asset transfer gains and an additional 1 per cent tax collection at the time of transfer means that party seems to be over for crypto assets and exchanges,” former Union Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, a key figure behind drafting the original Crypto bill, told IANS.
Shetty Opposes Govt Decision on Crypto:
Shetty has been quite vocal and raising his voice on social media platforms hitting out at the government’s stance on crypto taxation saying that the move will impact the homegrown players and lead to a wealth drain from the country.
