The NFT Marketplace India Can’t Get Enough of: Meet WazirX

In June last year, Binance-owned Indian cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX made history by launching the country’s first NFT marketplace. While NFTs were just picking up in India at the time, they have since gained traction, partly thanks to the WazirX NFT marketplace. After all, it helped put the spotlight on scores of Indian creators. 

Let’s dive deeper into this hit NFT marketplace in India!

How does the WazirX NFT marketplace work?

Led by entrepreneur, Sandesh B Suvarna and film actor/producer, Vishakha Singh, the WazirX NFT marketplace enables users to trade NFTs using its native currency, WRX. WRX comes with a limited supply—it is capped at one billion. While the platform charges a 5% service fee, the creators get the remaining proceeds. Besides, as the platform is built on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), its transaction fees or gas fees are much lower compared to that of Ethereum based marketplaces. In fact, according to a Bloomberg report, gas fees on WazirX are only about $1. 

In June, the platform selected 15 popular artists and creators to launch the first set of NFTs. The list included diverse Indian artists ranging from digital and street artists to visual artists and muralist photographers. Visual artist Vimal Chandran, mixed-media artist Ishita Banerjee, the anonymous street artist Tyler, automotive photographer Arjun Menon, and many others dropped their NFT collections on the platform.

Reportedly, before its launch, about 15,000 artists and creators applied to join the platform. However, to ensure the quality of the content, it only shortlisted 300 artists at the beginning. Since then, the numbers have crossed a thousand. 

“Since our inception, we have been at the forefront of innovation and empowered our customers with value-added offerings,” Nischal Shetty, Founder, WazirX said at the time. “[ WazirX] 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.

Features of WazirX NFT marketplace

While Indian creators and collectors have access to global NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Foundation, those did not cater to an Indian audience. As a result, the works of some of the Indian creators did not pick up on those platforms. Similarly, some collectors also found it difficult to find an artist of their liking, amid the clutter. This is where the WazirX NFT marketplace differed—it features select artists of predominantly Indian origin. 

You can find all the NFTs listed on the platform under the ‘Discover’ tab. Here, you can filter the NFTs based on their state (buy now/on auction/sold, and more), Market (Primary/Secondary), Categories, and Collections. Currently, the platform has 14 different categories, including art, music, sports/games, brands, movies/entertainment, collectibles, and photography, among others. 

Next, there are separate tabs that list all creators and collectors on the platform, respectively. Lastly, ‘Stats’ is much similar to OpenSea’s Stats section. Under this, you can find the ‘Rankings’ for the top NFT collections and the recent ‘Activity’ on the platform. Apart from these, on the home page, you can find a list of the trending collections, trending auctions, trending NFTs, genesis NFTs, trending collectors, and creators.

WazirX also offers features such as ‘split’, where creators can collaborate to create an NFT and share the profits. Additionally, you can refer a collector to earn a 20% platform fee. 

All in all, the platform has an easy-to-use and attractive interface where you can find an NFT of your liking without much hassle. The different curated lists make it easier for both newcomers and veterans to navigate and discover NFT collections on the platform. 

How to mint and sell NFTs on the marketplace

If you are a creator and want to mint your NFT on this top NFT marketplace in India, follow these steps:

1. First of all, you have to create an account on WazirX. For this, go to the website and click the ‘Connect Wallet’ option in the top right corner. Currently, it supports only MetaMask and WalletConnect. Follow the prompts to complete connecting your wallet.

   

2. Once you connect your wallet, you will get a pop-up to create an account on the platform. Now, enter your display name, username, email, bio, social media links, and other details. You can also add your profile picture. Your account is now ready!
3. Before you can mint NFTs on WazirX, you have to first become a creator on the platform. For this, go to your profile and select the ‘become a creator’ option. This will redirect you to an application. The team will review your application and revert in 3-4 weeks. You can only start minting NFTs after getting approved.
4. Once you are approved, you will see a ‘Create NFT’ option on your profile. Click this.
5. On the Create NFT page, you can upload your NFT file. It can be an image, video, GIF, or audio, up to a maximum file size of 100 MB. 
6. Then, enter details such as title, description, and the NFT price (in WRX). You can also set your own royalty percentage—anything between 1% and 15%.
7. Lastly, click ‘Save’ and you are all set. You can find your NFTs in the “Creations” section of your profile. From here, you can list the NFT for sale.

Some notable collections on WazirX

Today, WazirX is home to some interesting NFT collections. Last month, for instance, India’s first 10K NFT project dropped on the platform. Called CryptoSauga Star Club (CSS), the collection from Kunal Kamble takes inspiration from Bollywood. It includes 10,000 NFTs algorithmically generated from more than 150 traits. 

More recently, Indian designers, Pankaj & Nidhi dropped three NFTs on the platform in partnership with FDCI and Lakmé Fashion Week. Acclaimed designer Raghavendra Rathore has also dropped his debut NFTs on WazirX. Government advisory firm, Sapio Analytics’ ancient India NFTs are another collection on the platform. At the time of writing, Benign Mystique, Kryptomaskers, Satish Acharya, and Abhishapes, were some of the trending creators of the platform.

All in all, with its simple and user-friendly features, WazirX has established itself as one of the hottest NFT marketplaces in India. As the NFT market continues to grow in India, we can likely expect more platforms to come up in the South Asian nation. Indeed, WazirX is already facing competition from new marketplaces like BeyondLife.club and BollyCoin. Going forward, how WazirX fares against other homegrown competitors will be interesting to see.