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Tokens of crypto exchange WazirX surged over 200% in the hours before reports of the business announcing its own NFT marketplace were released, data from multiple sources showed Monday.
The NFT sector, short for Non Fungible Tokens, has grown in the past year from an under $100 million niche to a $25 billion behemoth that accounts for 1.33% of the crypto space. These are blockchain-based representations of tangible or non-tangible objects that are freely tradable and tie the ownership of the underlying asset with their holder.
Now, in line with offering newer products to Indian customers, WazirX has jumped into the NFT frenzy “Buy, sell, trade digital assets & intellectual properties, including art pieces, audio files, videos, programs & even tweets,” it announced in a tweet.
🚨 Launching decentralized NFT marketplace 🚨
Buy, sell, trade digital assets & intellectual properties, including art pieces, audio files, videos, programs & even tweets.
Pre-register & join our Telegram channel to stay updated 👇https://t.co/dWhZzpeise
— WazirX: Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Exchange in India (@WazirXIndia) April 5, 2021
NFTs for India
The move makes the upcoming product one of the first-ever dedicated NFT marketplaces in India. It is aimed at local artists and creators who can use blockchain technology for protecting intellectual rights, auctioning their art, and earning any royalty (if at all) afterward.
“It will truly transform the market in our rapidly digitizing world with a growing interest in NFT across the globe,” said Nischal Shetty, co-founder of WazirX, in a statement.
He added, “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.”
Let’s build India’s most trusted #NFT marketplace ✌️
Happy to have @sandeshsuvarna to lead this and @vishakhasingh55 as an advisor to help take NFTs to all the creators in India 🇮🇳#IndiaWantsCrypto #NFT #WRX https://t.co/VU0cQFurto
— Nischal (WazirX) ⚡️ (@NischalShetty) April 5, 2021
WazirX will not charge its customers for creating and listing NFTs on the platform, the firm said in a press release. However, since an NFT is approved, minted, and issued on blockchains that allow smart contracts, a gas fee (in ETH or other cryptos) would be necessary to paid miners.
However, WazirX is currently working towards minimizing these costs (they run over $100 at times) to make NFT minting cost-effective for local artists and creators.
WRX surge
Meanwhile, WRX prices have jumped over 1,000% in the past week and 3,876% in the past year, giving the network an overall value of over $1.4 billion at press time.
The token remains in a strong uptrend, as the below image shows, and has no immediate “resistance” areas where sellers could step in.
Mumbai-based WazirX was launched in 2018 and has since grown to be one of India’s biggest crypto companies by liquidity and market reach. It was acquired by Binance in 2019.
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