WazirX, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, has shut down its NFT marketplace activities with immediate effect. The WazirX NFT website currently displays a notice to that effect.
“The WazirX NFT marketplace has been sunsetted. You can still trade your NFTs on OpenSea,” the message reads.
Wazir stated on its website that despite offering a “safe and secure” marketplace, the firm “did not gain much traction.”
“NFTs are decentralized, and owners have complete control over their assets, which is why they have become so popular. Our users can rest assured that they can continue to hold their NFTs in their wallets, and these can be sold in other marketplaces such as OpenSea,” the statement clarified.
According to Inc42, WazirX NFTs have 52,253 goods for sale on OpenSea.
On social media, the news was met with amazement. Several tweets referred to “Zero notice,” and some called it a rug-pull. A Twitter user reported that the NFTs hosted on this site are no longer profitable.
Nischal Shetty, CEO of WazirX, responded to a tweet that called the closure of the WazirX NFT marketplace a rug-pull.
“Rugpull? NFTs have always been under self-custody of those participating,” he said.
Only a day before WazirX shut down its marketplace, Friendsies, an NFT collection, announced a similar decision to “pause” operations, citing market volatility. In the Friendsies community, the announcement sparked worries of a rug-pull.
WazirX NFT marketplace began in June 2021, followed by numerous other businesses’ India-focused NFT platforms. Some were able to secure the services of major film stars to mint their NFTs, and the market appeared to be taking off toward greater heights, with film stars and cricket celebrities, in particular, hopping on the NFT bandwagon. However, a prolonged bear market and an unfavorable regulatory environment appear to have had a significant impact on the crypto subsector.
According to Deloitte’s Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions 2022, the Indian sports and entertainment NFT market will reach $1 billion shortly, while the global sports NFT trade will surpass $2 billion in 2022.
“With more than 500 million cricket fans in India, and Bollywood…, an NFT marketplace for just cinema and sports in India has the potential to cross $1 billion in value in the near future,” the Deloitte report said.
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