WazirX Clarifies Its Head Office Will Remain in Mumbai as Founders’ Dubai Travels Stir Rumours

Founders of WazirX keep traveling but the company has rubbished any speculation suggesting that its base is being shifted to Dubai.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 20 April 2022 15:22 IST

WazirX Clarifies Its Head Office Will Remain in Mumbai as Founders’ Dubai Travels Stir Rumours

Photo Credit: Facebook/ WazirX

WazirX claims it has employees working remotely from over 70 different locations

Highlights

WazirX not moving base to Dubai
Residency locations of WazirX founders irrelevant to operations
WazirX allows employees to work remotely from anywhere

The headquarter of Indian WazirX is and will remain in Mumbai and is not shifting base to Dubai. The clarification from crypto exchange has come after some recent media reports suggested that WazirX founders Nischal Shetty and Siddharth Menon have made a move outside India. The rumours were immediately linked to India's recently imposed tax laws on virtual digital assets and how that may have affected the ease of conducting business from the country for the WazirX leadership. The company has rubbished all such speculations.

“The founders keep traveling, yes, but WazirX has not moved to Dubai. We're headquartered in India and continue operating that way, there's no change for us,” a company official familiar with the matter told Gadgets 360.

The crypto exchange, founded in 2018, is anyway prioritising remote-working for its employees, giving them a chance to work from anywhere in the world.

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The company has employees working remotely from over 70 different locations, it claimed in a statement shared on Twitter clearly stating that the company sees no operational changes at all for now.

BUIDLing for India, across India :v::flag-in: pic.twitter.com/4hCdFtsbFh
— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) April 19, 2022

Rumour mills began churning after certain media reports claimed that both Shetty and Menon have shifted to Dubai with their respective families.

@WazirXCares The news that your office is being relocated to Dubai is what you call it.? Is it true.?#WazirX #wazirxcare #CryptoNews #cryptocurrecy pic.twitter.com/RdyDjiW5Hz
— ram basetty (@ram_basetty) April 20, 2022

Since Dubai recently rolled out laws supporting the growth and development of the crypto industry, it apparently gave the impression that WazirX could soon shift its base to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Several big crypto firms including Binance are establishing their offices in UAE regions like Dubai and Abu Dhabi .

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The WazirX official, who wished to remain unnamed, declined to comment on the residency locations of company founders, highlighting that “it does not impact WazirX in any way”.

The Indian crypto community is maintaining a keen eye on cryptopreneurs who are looking to flock to the UAE with their operations now that tax laws have gone into effect in India. Presently, incomes earned via crypto trading are subjected to a 30 percent tax deduction in India along with additional TDS cuts.

#WazirX Founders Reportedly Shift Base To #Dubai To Escape India's 30% Tax Rule On Digital Assets ???#CryptoNews #BTC #india
— Crypto TV India (@cryptotvindia) April 20, 2022

Co-founders of #India-based #WazirX have reportedly made a move to the crypto hub of #Dubai

Dubai has lately become a crucial crypto hub with UAE emerging as a hotspot in the region#IndiaWantsCrypto
— Yeo Lu:small_red_triangle::purple_heart: (@TheYeoLu) April 20, 2022

@NischalShetty bro heard that u have shifted to dubai with family. That means are we going to see something strange in @WazirXIndia #WazirX too.. I just wish that I don't lose my money @WazirXCares @WazirXNFT
— vicky khater (@vickyvicky87) April 20, 2022

Polygon, which is a popular blockchain network developed by Indians for instance, has no offices in India.

In March, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal had said that India's lack of regularity and clarity around the crypto sector is leading to a “crazy brain drain” from the Indian crypto sector.

Nailwal himself, reportedly relocated to Dubai two years ago.

While India is still awaiting its core crypto laws, the country has brought the digital assets industry under its tax regime starting April 1.

India is also not looking to offer tax relaxations or incentives to crypto players who will invest in setting up and maintaining the crypto ecosystem in the country.

Several industry insiders have urged the government to take a softer approach towards the crypto community given that it is promising as well as just up and coming.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, India, WazirX, Dubai, Polygon

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More