Low Traction Drives Indian Crypto Exchange WazirX to Shut Down its NFT Marketplace

Estimated read time 3 min read
  • WazirX, an Indian crypto exchange, has announced the closure of its NFT marketplace on its website.
  • The closure of the NFT marketplace follows WazirX’s move to shift assets held in the Binance wallets after an ultimatum from Binance to do so by February 3, 2023. 

WazirX, an Indian crypto exchange, has announced the closure of its NFT marketplace on its website. Despite this development, users are still able to trade their NFTs on OpenSea, which is a well-known NFT platform. WazirX’s website features a hyperlink to OpenSea, where users can purchase or sell the NFTs they acquired on WazirX. At present, WazirX’s OpenSea profile displays a total of 52,253 items up for sale.

As of now, WazirX has not made any official statement regarding the closure of its NFT marketplace.

We regret to announce that the WazirX NFT Marketplace has been sunsetted. We are proud to have launched India’s first NFT Marketplace in June 2021, which showcased the work of many creators. Unfortunately, it did not gain much traction.

The company said in a statement.

Many users are concerned about the closure of WazirX’s NFT marketplace and fear that the exchange could be next to shut down, though there is no confirmation of such a development. It’s possible that the marketplace is facing technical difficulties and may return online soon.

In the past, there was a dispute over whether Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, owned WazirX. It was believed that Binance had acquired the Indian exchange in 2019, but Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) stated that the deal was never completed.

Binance recently published a blog post requesting that Zanmai Labs, the entity responsible for managing the popular Indian crypto exchange, withdraw assets that were being held in Binance wallets.

This was prompted by concerns among users about the safety of their funds. However, these developments, including the closure of WazirX’s NFT marketplace, have caused new anxieties among investors. The specific problem with the marketplace and how the exchange will address it remains unclear at this time.

In addition to the public dispute with Binance, the Indian crypto exchange has encountered various difficulties, including regulatory investigations. In August 2022, the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at the director’s premises and froze bank accounts worth Rs 64.67 crores.

WazirX experienced a significant 76% drop in trading volume during the 12-month period ending in December 2022. The company witnessed a seven-fold increase in scale during the fiscal year that ended in March 2022, primarily due to a small initial base and the crypto boom that prevailed for most of 2021.

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