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More than 300 digital artists have been shortlisted for showcasing and selling their work on WazirX’s crypto marketplace

The platform is in beta phase and users have to get on a waitlist to join it

The WazirX NFT marketplace will see participation of well-known names like visual artist Vimal Chandran, the anonymous street artist Tyler, wall mural artist Sneha Chakraborty, among others

Mumbai-based crypto startup WazirX has rolled out an NFT marketplace introducing 15 creators hailing from diverse categories such as space 3D artists, digital artists, muralist photographers, canvas artists, street artists and visual artists. The Indian crypto exchange says that its NFT marketplace is South Asia’s first such platform. 

NFTs are irreplaceable and immutable unique digital items, such as a piece of digital artwork, virtual accessories to be used in video games, or even real-world items such as collector’s cards that have been transferred onto a blockchain network. 

The newly launched WazirX NFT marketplace is currently in Beta phase and involves minimal transaction fees, comes without any listing price, and is extending $50,000 worth of WRX (the company’s in-house crypto token) as bonuses for the art community. However, users have to get on a waitlist to join the platform as of now.

Creators on the WazirX NFT platform have been divided into various categories and the company is onboarding them in a phased out manner. The launch is heavily focused on Indian-origin artists scattered around the world for now. The selection of artists has been divided into ‘Spotlight’ and ‘Discover’ sections. Spotlight artists have been curated keeping in mind the diversity of their work, genre, popularity and credibility. The WazirX NFT marketplace will see participation of well-known names like visual artist Vimal Chandran, who is known as India’s very own Banksy,  the anonymous street artist Tyler, wall mural artist Sneha Chakraborty, mixed media artist Ishita Banerjee from Montreal, automotive photographer Arjun Menon amongst many others. For artists in the ‘Discover’ category, the platform is announcing 50 selected artists each day from over 15 thousands applications received. 

The company says it has received over 15,000 applications from artists and collectors for access to the NFT marketplace. For now, 300+ creators have been shortlisted who will release their work exclusively on the platform. All items listed on the platform for now are based on the ‘Fixed Price’ model. 

The WazirX NFT Marketplace is powered by the Binance Smart Chain, which brings the gas fee – a sum required to mint the NFT via a blockchain – down from $60-$100 to about $1. Since the NFTs will be interoperable, anyone can later transfer the NFT to a different blockchain such as Ethereum. 

Sandesh B Suvarna, vice president, WazirX NFT Marketplace said, “More artists and collectors across the globe are today tapping the power of NFTs. By doing so, they are realising the wide-ranging benefits of using smart contracts to dignify and secure the digital art ownership for every artist and collector by providing them with an opportunity to create wealth. NFTs ensure the exclusivity of ownership and can be seen as a way to digitise artwork and other collectible items.”