India’s Crypto Exchange WazirX Launches NFT Marketplace for Indian Artists

In a major breakthrough, WazirX has launched one of India’s first marketplace for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). The development has paved the way for seamless exchange of digital assets and intellectual properties including art pieces, audio files, videos, programs, and even tweets apart from other digital goods and services. Following the launch, Indian creators can now place their digital assets for auction over the blockchain-based NFT marketplace and earn royalty thereafter.

WazirX will not charge its customers for creating and listing NFTs on the platform. However, since NFT builds on blockchains that allow smart contracts, a gas fee is paid to the miners in respective currencies. This cost is against the computer power used to verify the transactions. WazirX is currently working towards nullifying this cost to make NFT minting cost-effective for artists and creators.

For the uninitiated, NFT is a one-of-its-kind asset that is non-fungible in nature. It means that NFT is not replaceable by another ‘identical’ item. Its copies cannot be created following the purchase, thereby making it a unique asset for buyers. NFT are the next logical step for everyone from collectors to businesses who are interested in inimitable, intellectual properties. Recently, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet for $2.9 million in an NFT-based transaction. The same holds for artists, distributors, and other stakeholders who wish to drive digital sales while keeping their copyrights intact.

Nischal Shetty, Founder, WazirX said, “We are delighted to launch one of India’s first NFT marketplace. Since our inception, we have been at the forefront of innovation and empowered our customers with value-added offerings. The latest addition to the WazirX portfolio builds along the same lines. It will truly transform the market in our rapidly digitizing world with a growing interest in NFT across the globe. Both digital creators and collectors stand to benefit from the WazirX NFT marketplace. As of now, we are working around certain nitty-gritty to make NFTs more lucrative for our customers.”

WazirX ‘s NFT initiative is being spearheaded by Canada based entrepreneur, Sandesh B Suvarna with film actor/producer Vishakha Singh as an advisor. The two have a history of working on SAAS products in the celebrity fan engagement space.

Vishakha Singh, Advisor, NFT Marketplace said, “From the creative industry perspective, we believe this is a great opportunity for artists and IPR owners to monetize their existing assets via a new revenue stream. The myth of the starving artist needs to be rewritten. Every creator, artist, influencer has the right to showcase their IP with dignity and on a credible platform with legitimate buyers.

We are glad to be a part of one of India’s first NFT marketplace under WazirX and are confident that this would be a beautiful marriage of arts, technology and commerce” she added

According to a market report, the NFT market grew by 299% in 2020 as it clocked more than $250 million as the total value of transactions. This figure includes all sales and transactions including ‘breeding’, ‘minting’, and ‘renting’ of NFTs. With a strong momentum generated, NFTs are expected to grow even more robustly in 2021, especially as it enters the popular lexicon.