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Crypto exchange WazirX on Wednesday said that it is in the initial stages of developing a decentralised exchange (DEX) that allows users to trade crypto assets directly with one another, reducing counterparty risk. 

According to Nischal Shetty, Founder, and CEO of WazirX, the idea behind the launch of a DEX platform is to address crypto users’ request for self custody. 

However, while the concept of DEX is well known in the crypto community, bad user experience and lack of ease in trading has limited users from trading on DEX, which WazirX is hoping to address, he said in a townhall meeting. 

“We want to build something that gives you an even better user experience and an easier onboarding experience than the centralized exchanges. And if we can do that, we believe that this will give a great opportunity for people who want self-custody and not want to rely on centralised exchanges,” Shetty added.

Additionally, the exchange is also expected to help WazirX build liquidity which will be used to begin value flowing back to the creditors. The company will be rolling out an exchange token which will be reserved for people who are holding the recovery tokens. 

Users holding recovery tokens can exchange them for DEX tokens. The company will roll out a test version of the exchange in the next few months for users and creditors to try, Shetty said. 

The company is also rolling out three new features onto its WazirX platform—crypto staking, over-the-counter (OTC) desk and futures trading, as it prepares to reopen the exchange in February after it stopped trading post the cyber heist that results in the loss of $234.9 million worth of assets. 

Crypto staking feature will allow users to deposit crypto tokens into company-managed staking pools or directly interact with staking smart contracts on various blockchains to help support the network. Users can earn staking rewards based on the amount they lock in. WazirX will charge a fee based on the percentage of staking rewards earned or the platform fee. 

An OTC desk will facilitate large-scale crypto transactions between institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals while the futures trading option will allow users to enter into contracts to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price on a future date.