WazirX Shutters NFT Marketplace Amid Ongoing Crypto Winter

Indian crypto exchange WazirX has shut down its NFT marketplace, WazirX NFT, with immediate effect. 

“The WazirX NFT marketplace has been sunsetted. You can still trade your NFTs on OpenSea,” the website of the marketplace displayed. Upon clicking the OpenSea link, users can buy or sell the NFTs bought on the WazirX marketplace. 

Currently, the OpenSea profile of the Indian crypto exchange has 52,253 items on sale. 

“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,” said WazirX in a statement.

“We are proud of the contribution that we have made to the NFT sector in India. We have provided a platform for creators to showcase their talent, and our efforts have helped put the spotlight on many Indian creators. We thank all our users and partners for supporting us throughout our journey.”

India’s stand on crypto and other virtual digital assets (VDAs) has left the crypto industry on thin ice, leaving WazirX in a precarious position. The crypto startup fired around 50-70 employees in October 2022 ‘to weather the crypto winter.’

WazirX has also been slowly reducing its operations over the past few months, as an extended crypto winter has left the Indian landscape decimated. The crypto exchange is yet to activate INR withdrawals on its platform, though users can still make deposits.

The company has published proof of reserves to alleviate some user anxiety amid multiple controversies. As on February 22, 2023, at 1:50 PM, WazirX’s total reserves stood at $315.56 Mn, of which only about $9.76 Mn was on its exchange, while the rest was parked on the blockchain.

The row with Binance over the ownership of Zanmai Labs, a company also cofounded by WazirX founder Nischal Shetty and the parent company of the crypto exchange is still ongoing. The public spat started in August 2022 on Twitter and stems from the apparent sale of WazirX to Binance, announced first in November 2019.

Things came to a head in January when Binance cut off WazirX’s access to its wallet services, asking the Indian crypto exchange to withdraw user funds, alleging that WazirX was trying to ‘shift responsibility’ for its operations to Binance.

The Indian crypto startup, in return, said it was looking for legal recourse against the Changpeng Zhao-led crypto exchange. Even as Binance has told WazirX to withdraw its funds from its wallets, all of the Indian crypto exchange’s assets are parked with Binance, WazirX’s proof of reserves showed.

WazirX has also witnessed a lot of scrutiny from the Indian government. Last August, hours before the infamous series of tweets by Zhao, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) froze assets worth INR 64.67 Cr in connection with a money laundering case.

The ED had also issued WazirX a show-cause notice for transactions worth INR 2,790.74 Cr in June 2021, a case which is still ongoing.

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Update | Feburary 22, 2023, 3:45 PM

The story has been updated with WazirX’s comments on the development.