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WazirX

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WazirX
TypePrivate
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedMarch 2018; 8 years ago (2018-03)[1]
FoundersNischal Shetty, Siddharth Menon, Sameer Mhatre[1]
Headquarters
Mumbai, India
Area served
India
Key peopleNischal Shetty (Founder)
ProductsCryptocurrency trading platform, peer-to-peer trading system, WRX utility token, NFT marketplace
ServicesCryptocurrency exchange
ParentZettai Pte. Ltd.
Websitewazirx.com

WazirX is an Indian cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy, sell, and trade digital assets such as bitcoin and ether through web and mobile interfaces.[1] The platform offers spot and futures trading and related services, and operates a native utility token, WRX.[2][3]

History

[edit]

WazirX was founded on 8 March 2018 by Nischal Shetty, Siddharth Menon, and Sameer Mhatre as a cryptocurrency exchange focused on Indian users.[4] The three co-founders had previously worked together on the social-media tool Crowdfire.[1]

Within weeks of the launch, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a circular restricting regulated banks from providing services to cryptocurrency-related businesses, prompting several exchanges to exit the Indian market.[4] In response, WazirX introduced a peer-to-peer (P2P) mechanism that allowed users to transfer Indian rupees directly between bank accounts while the platform matched orders and escrowed the crypto leg.[5][6][7] Beginning on 1 November 2018, Shetty ran the #IndiaWantsCrypto social-media campaign calling for clearer regulation of digital assets in India.[5] The RBI restriction remained in effect until 4 March 2020, when the Supreme Court of India set it aside, allowing banks to resume services to exchanges.[4]

In November 2019, Binance announced an acquisition of WazirX, describing the deal as its first move into the Indian market; the financial terms were not disclosed.[1][8][9]

In January 2020, Binance announced a sale of WazirX's native utility token, WRX, on its Launchpad platform, with the public sale conducted in a lottery format and balances recorded over 30 days from 4 January 2020.[10] WRX was issued as a BEP2 asset on Binance Chain and described as the utility token underpinning the WazirX ecosystem, with uses including trading-fee discounts, trade mining, and margin fees.[11]

In 2021, WazirX launched a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace built on the BNB Smart Chain, on which creators could mint and sell digital works using the WRX token.[12]

In 2022, Binance disputed having completed its 2019 acquisition of WazirX, stating it did not own equity in the platform or its operator Zanmai Labs.[13][14] The dispute arose amid an Indian Enforcement Directorate investigation into WazirX-linked transactions tied to illegal betting apps, where funds were allegedly laundered into crypto via Binance.[15] Binance said it only provided wallet infrastructure, while WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty maintained the acquisition had been completed, leading to a public ownership conflict.[16]

On 18 July 2024, WazirX reported a cyberattack on one of its multi-signature wallets, resulting in the theft of digital assets initially reported at more than US$230 million and later quantified at about US$234.9 million.[17][18] The affected wallet was managed under a third-party custody arrangement with Liminal Custody, and the loss represented close to half of the exchange's reported reserves.[19] Blockchain analysts attributed the attack to the North Korea–linked Lazarus Group.[17][18] WazirX suspended deposits, withdrawals, and trading, filed police complaints, notified the Financial Intelligence Unit (India) and CERT-In, and launched a bounty program for recovery of the funds.[19] The exchange reset user balances to their state as of 18 July and reversed trades made after the breach, and at one point proposed a "loss socialisation" arrangement spreading losses across users.[20][21]

In August 2024, Zettai Pte. Ltd., the Singapore-incorporated entity associated with WazirX, applied to the High Court of Singapore for a moratorium under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 to pursue a court-supervised restructuring through a scheme of arrangement.[22][23][24] On 13 October 2025, the High Court sanctioned the creditor-approved scheme with modifications, after the proposal was supported by about 95.7 percent of creditors by number and 94.6 percent by value.[25][26] The plan provided for pro rata distribution of rebalanced assets representing roughly 85 percent of admitted claim value and the issuance of Recovery Tokens for potential future distributions. The sanctioned scheme was filed with Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority on 15 October 2025.[25]

Following court approval, WazirX restarted operations on 24 October 2025, enabling trading in phases over four days and offering zero trading fees across all markets for 30 days.[27] Within ten business days of relaunch, the exchange distributed approximately 85 percent of users' rebalanced balances, and it migrated custody operations to BitGo.[28][29] On 9 January 2026, WazirX announced that it had completed allocation of Recovery Tokens to all eligible users on a pro rata basis.[30] The tokens are non-tradable and non-withdrawable, and entitle holders to future buybacks funded by recoveries and platform profits.[29][28]

In November 2025, WazirX introduced a subscription model marketed as WazirX ZERO, under which users pay a fixed monthly fee of ₹99 (plus tax) in place of per-trade fees and can trade across more than 300 tokens.[31] On 13 May 2026, WazirX launched rupee-settled perpetual futures contracts with maker fees of 0.02 percent and taker fees of 0.04 percent[32] and no minimum-volume threshold, an initiative to bring together the platform’s security updates, transparency efforts and user safety education in one place.[33][34]

Operation

[edit]

WazirX operates a cryptocurrency trading platform for Indian users offering spot and futures trading.[1] Its products have included a peer-to-peer trading system used during the period of restricted banking access (2018–2020),[5][7] the WRX utility token,[10] and an NFT marketplace operated from 2021.[12][35] WazirX is registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit—India.[36]

WazirX’s Indian operations have been associated with Zanmai Labs Private Limited. Cryptocurrency trading in India operates within a developing regulatory framework rather than under a single comprehensive licensing regime.[36] The Reserve Bank of India’s 2018 banking restriction on cryptocurrency-related services was overturned by the Supreme Court of India in March 2020.[4] In 2022, India introduced a 30 percent tax on income from the transfer of virtual digital assets and a 1 percent tax deducted at source on transactions, after which reports indicated a decline in trading volumes on WazirX.[37][2]

Criticism and reception

[edit]

WazirX is one of India's largest cryptocurrency exchanges by registered users.[1] In mid-2021, its registered user base had grown rapidly, reporting 6.5 million users with June 2021 trading volume of about US$6.2 billion,[1] by 2025 it has more than 16 million registered users.[31][38]

After the July 2024 cyberattack, it was criticised over its risk management and over proposals such as loss socialisation, while regulators and observers renewed discussion of consumer protection in India's crypto market.[20] Following the restart, some users and commentators criticised the rollout of new revenue products—including the WazirX ZERO subscription and futures trading—arguing the exchange should prioritise repaying the roughly 15 percent of user funds that remained locked in Recovery Tokens.[39] The WRX token traded around US$0.02 in 2026, down roughly 99 percent from its April 2021 peak of about US$5.94.[40][39]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "WazirX: Nischal Shetty built India's largest crypto trading exchange". CNBC. 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  2. 1 2 "WazirX Trading Volume, Rankings, Markets & Other Data". BitDegree. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  3. ↑ "WazirX launches Quick Buy to make crypto purchasing easier". ETBFSI.com. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Nischal Shetty, co-founder of WazirX on cryptocurrency being a true reflection of the modern Internet we all need". IndiaAI. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  5. 1 2 3 "Who Is Nischal Shetty? WazirX Founder and Shardeum CEO". Plisio. 2026-05-15. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  6. ↑ "How WazirX survived India's crypto banking ban". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  7. 1 2 "Notifications - Reserve Bank of India". rbi.org.in. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  8. ↑ Kar, Sanghamitra (2019-11-21). "Binance acquires Mumbai's bitcoin exchange WazirX". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  9. ↑ "Indian Government Raids Director of Crypto Exchange WazirX, Freezes $8.1M". CoinDesk. 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  10. 1 2 "Introducing the WazirX (WRX) Token Sale on Binance Launchpad". Binance. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  11. ↑ "Next Token to Go on Sale on Binance Launchpad Is WazirX (WRX)". CryptoGlobe. 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  12. 1 2 "Binance-Owned WazirX Launches NFT Marketplace". AlexaBlockchain. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  13. ↑ "Binance says does not hold stake in WazirX". The Economic Times. 2022-08-05. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  14. ↑ Singh, Manish (2022-08-06). "Binance and WazirX disagree over ownership two years after announcing deal". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  15. ↑ "India freezes assets of Binance-linked WazirX". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-11-18. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  16. ↑ "WazirX, Binance CEOs clash over ownership". The Economic Times. 2022-08-07. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  17. 1 2 "Indian crypto platform WazirX confirms $230 million stolen during cyberattack". The Record. 2024-07-18. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  18. 1 2 "2024 WazirX hack". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  19. 1 2 "Important Update: Cyber Attack Incident and Measures to Protect Your Assets". WazirX Blog. 2024-07-18. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  20. 1 2 "WazirX to reverse all trades between July 18-21 after $230 million security breach". Business Today. 2024-08-09. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  21. ↑ "Binance Denies Accountability for WazirX's Stolen Funds". MediaNama. 2024-09-18. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  22. ↑ "WazirX restructuring scheme officially approved by Singapore High Court". The Hindu. 2025-10-14. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  23. ↑ Choudhary, Lokesh (2025-01-23). "Singapore HC Greenlights WazirX's Restructuring Plans". Inc42 Media. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  24. ↑ "WazirX's Proposed Scheme of Arrangement: A Path to Recovery and Future Stability for Users - The Economic Times". m.economictimes.com. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  25. 1 2 "WazirX News: Singapore Clears Plan for Restart, Bringing Respite to Victims of $230M Hack". www.coindesk.com. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  26. ↑ "Singapore Court approves WazirX's restructuring plans following $230-mn hack". Moneycontrol. Archived from the original on 2025-10-28. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  27. ↑ "Trading to Resume on WazirX with Zero Trading Fee from 24th October". WazirX Support. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  28. 1 2 "WazirX Finalizes Recovery Token Allocation, Distributes 85% of Rebalanced Assets to Users in 10 Days". Meyka. 2026-01-09. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  29. 1 2 "WazirX issues recovery tokens to eligible users under restructuring scheme". Cryptopolitan. 2026-01-10. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  30. ↑ Khanna, Surbhi (2026-01-09). "WazirX completes allocation of Recovery Tokens, distributes 85% of rebalanced net liquid platform assets to users within 10 days". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  31. 1 2 "WazirX launches WazirX ZERO for users; no more paying fees on every trade". Coin Edition. 2025-11-26. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  32. ↑ "WazirX launches crypto Futures with lowest trading fees and no volume threshold". The Economic Times. 2026-05-13. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  33. ↑ "WazirX Launches 'Guardians of Trust'". Rediff. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  34. ↑ "WazirX Launches 'Guardians of Trust' Hub to Strengthen Crypto Security, Transparency and User Awareness". Outlook Business. 2026-05-07. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  35. ↑ "Binance-Owned WazirX Launches India's First NFT Platform". www.coindesk.com. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  36. 1 2 "WazirX India – Buy & Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin". Coinpedia. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  37. ↑ "After WazirX & CoinDCX, CoinSwitch Enters India's Crypto Zero-Fee Battle". The Crypto Times. 2026-03-16. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  38. ↑ "India freezes assets of Binance-linked WazirX". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-11-18. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  39. 1 2 "WazirX at 8% Market Share, 15% User Funds Still Locked as Nischal Pushes AI & Futures". The Crypto Times. 2026-06-22. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
  40. ↑ "WazirX Unveils INR Crypto Futures as Post-Hack Recovery Push Continues". The Crypto Times. 2026-05-13. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
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