Paytm shares sink 9% on reports of ED probe in crypto scam, company denies

Shares of Paytm (listed as One 97 Communications Ltd) slipped 9% in early deals today amid reports of eight payment gateways, including Paytm, RazorPay, PayU, and Easebuzz, coming under the Enforcement Directorate (ED) scanner.  Reports say Rs 2,200 crore were raised across 20 states and linked to 10 Chinese nationals in a cryptocurrency scam. ED has freezed Rs 500 crore in connection with the scam. However, Paytm and Easebuzz have outrightly rejected such reports.  

Paytm stock slipped 9% to Rs 773.90 in the current session against the previous close of Rs 848.95 on BSE. Market cap of Paytm fell to Rs 52,749 crore on BSE. Later, Paytm stock ended 4.85% lower at Rs 807.75 on BSE. 

Total 3.89 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 31.70 crore. The Paytm stock has risen 10% in a year but lost 16% in 2025. The stock has a beta of 0.9, indicating low volatility in a year.

Paytm in a clarification to a query from BSE said, "We confirm that we have not received any such new notice, communication, or query from the Enforcement Directorate regarding the matter mentioned in the media articles. The information published is factually incorrect and misleading and we had not received any query from the media prior to the publishing of this news article. Please refer to our letter dated September 4, 2022, regarding the Directorate of Enforcement's (ED) search operations involving certain merchants for whom we provided payment processing solutions. The instances currently being reported by the media pertain to similar old enquiries regarding third-party merchants. We would like to clarify that these merchants are independent entities and are not part of our group. We confirm that we had fully cooperated with the authorities and had complied with all their directives. Additionally, we would also like to take this opportunity to clarify that contrary to media reports there has been no probe on the Company or its subsidiaries, the ED’s probe is on third-party merchants."

Easebuzz  in a clarification said, "We would like to clarify that the investigation by the Enforcement Directorate concerning the highlighted matter has no direct connection to Easebuzz . The matter in relation to HPZ token is 2-3 years old and there are no pending queries at Easebuzz end from the authorities. Additionally, we have not received any communication from the authorities regarding this case."

Earlier, BSE had sought clarification from Paytm on a news report related to the crypto scam. 

"The Exchange has sought clarification from One 97 Communications Ltd on January 24, 2025, with reference to news appeared in https://www.moneycontrol.com/ dated January 24, 2025 quoting "Paytm, Razorpay, others face probe over crypto scam, ED freezes Rs 500 crore: Report," Paytm had said.

In terms of technicals, the relative strength index (RSI) of Paytm stands at 40.9, signaling it's trading neither in the overbought nor in the oversold territory. Shares of Paytm are trading higher than the 100 day, 150 day, 200 day but lower than the 5 day, 10 day, 20 day, 30 day and 50 day moving averages.