The WazirX NFT marketplace, which was launched two years ago, has been shut down due to uncertain market conditions.
No More NFTs On WazirX
On February 22, the Indian crypto exchange WazirX announced that it was shutting down its NFT marketplace due to low activity and challenging business environments caused by high taxation, regulatory trouble, and overall market instability, which had invariable rocked the virtual digital assets (VDA) segment.
According to the company spokesperson, who made the announcement,
“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.”
Buyers To Move To OpenSea
The platform, which was launched in 2021, featured non-fungible tokens like digital art pieces, audio files, videos, programs, tweets, and all kinds of digital goods and services. With the marketplace now shutting down, users will still be able to hold their pre-existing NFTs in their own wallets. However, if they want to sell them or trade NFTs in any way, they would have to turn to other marketplaces, like OpenSea.
The spokesperson thanked the platform’s users and partners, saying,
“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.”
Market Posing Challenges
The last Budget meeting announced severely heavy taxes on the crypto market in India. The 30% income tax on profits and 1% TDS on all VDA transactions have crippled India’s crypto transactions, resulting in the loss of over 90% of trading volumes on the WazirX platform.
The challenges continued with the volatility in the global crypto market due to the collapse of Three Arrows Capital, FTX, Celsius, and other crypto institutions. As such, interest in NFTs, which had spiked to frenzy levels in 2021, has dropped significantly, and the WazirX NFT marketplace has failed to pull in the volume of buyers it had hoped for.
Recently, the WazirX crypto exchange had to factor in the market volatility further and disclose its proof-of-reserves. After the collapse of the FTX ecosystem, investor confidence was at an all-time low. Many crypto exchanges have rushed to disclose their proof-of-reserves to reassure partners, shareholders, and investors of the status of their liquidity. WazirX itself conducted an audit through a third-party asset tracker, which revealed that 90% of its user assets were held in Binance-based wallets.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.