Tag: WazirX

A list of Bitcoin forks and how they have changed the network

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A Bitcoin fork is a radical change in the protocol of a blockchain. It’s like a fork in the road, resulting in two branches of the protocol. They are separate versions of the blockchain with a shared history.

Forks are of two kinds — hard and soft. Soft forks are backwards compatible, meaning users with the new protocol can still interact with users of the old protocol. Hard forks, on the other hand, are much larger changes wherein users of the newer version no longer accept the older version of the protocol.

Bitcoin is the oldest cryptocurrency and it has had several forks in its history. Some of these forks have had a major impact on the way this blockchain functions today. They have even resulted in newer versions of the cryptocurrency. So, tag along as we round up some of the most noteworthy forks in Bitcoin history.

List of the major Bitcoin forks

Bitcoin XT: This was the first notable hard fork to Bitcoin’s software and was launched in late 2014 by Mike Hearn. Bitcoin XT aimed to increase transactions per second from 7 to 24. While the fork was initially a success, users eventually lost interest in the project and abandoned it.

Also read: Top 5 countries with highest number of cryptocurrency owners: No 1 will surprise you

Bitcoin Classic: Bitcoin Classic was launched for the same reason as Bitcoin XT after the latter was abandoned. It was a hard fork that increased the block size by 2 MB instead of the 8 MB proposed by Hearn. The project is still alive; however, most of the community has moved on to other forks.

Bitcoin Unlimited: Bitcoin Unlimited was released in early 2016, but its developers never specified which type of fork it would require. It allows miners to decide the size of their blocks but limits it to 16 megabytes. Though it had gained some interest, it failed to gain acceptance.

Segregated Witness (SegWit): It aimed to reduce the size of every bitcoin transaction so more transactions could take place simultaneously. It also aimed to reduce transaction malleability – ensuring that rogue nodes were no longer able to change transaction details. Segregated Witness was more of a software upgrade (a soft fork), but it may have prompted some of Bitcoin’s hard forks.

Also read: 5 things you should not do when investing in cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin Cash: Some Bitcoin users and developers wanted to avoid the upgrades that SegWit brought about. Hence, they created a hard fork called Bitcoin Cash. The fork was split from the main blockchain in August of 2017. It is one of the most successful forks, backed by many prominent figures. Bitcoin Cash, the cryptocurrency, is now the 25th-largest crypto by market cap, trading above $300.

Bitcoin Gold: Bitcoin Gold was created in October 2017, shortly after the Bitcoin Cash fork. This hard fork aimed to ease the mining process by using only the basic hardware. While people could earlier mine bitcoin using even personal computers, the growing mining difficulty led to the creation of some specialised mining hardware. The Bitcoin Gold fork aimed to make mining accessible by tweaking the hardware requirements. So, Bitcoin Gold is mined on a standard graphics processing unit, whereas Bitcoin is mined using specialised application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Bitcoin SV: Bitcoin SV was hard forked from Bitcoin Cash in November 2018. Originally described as a ‘civil war’, the split was again for block size. While proponents of Bitcoin Cash insisted on upgrading to Bitcoin ABC to maintain the block size at 32 MB, the second camp – composed of Craig Steven Wright, self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto – insisted on increasing the block size to 128 MB. They touted it as the ‘Bitcoin Satoshi Vision’. Bitcoin SV currently is the 60th-largest coin by market cap, trading at $85. It is the largest of all Bitcoin forks, with a size exceeding 2.5 TB.

Also read: Dogecoin is excited by Elon Musk taking control of Twitter, and so are Bitcoin and Ethereum

Taproot: Taproot is a soft fork that went live on 12 November 2021, after block Block 709632 was mined. It was first major update since SegWit in 2017 and implemented 3 blockchain improvement proposals – BIP340, BIP341, and BIP342. These BIPs were Schnorr signatures, MAST, and Tapscript respectively. The updates are a bit complex, but they basically improved scalability, increased privacy, and facilitated enhanced smart-contract functions of the Bitcoin blockchain.

Other forks: These were just some of the main forks Bitcoin has undergone. However, several other minor forks have taken place over the years. In 2017 alone there were three forks, Bitcoin Diamond, Bitcore, and Super Bitcoin. There were four more in 2018, including Bitcoin Private, Bitcoin Atom, Bitcoin Zero, and Bitcoin Post-Quantum. And there should be plenty more in the future as well, especially as the blockchain develops to meet the growing needs of crypto investors worldwide.

You can buy Bitcoin with just Rs 100 on WazirX.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained | Why are Indian Web 3.0 and DeFi projects moving to Dubai?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Within a month of the new tax regime coming into effect, crypto trading volumes in India have seen a massive downturn. The imposition of a 30 percent tax on capital gains coupled with a 1 percent TDS on all transactions has added immense pressure to India’s already vexed crypto industry.

Also, the debacle involving Coinbase and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has further fogged the regulatory situation. Banks and payment aggregators are now unwilling to associate with crypto exchanges following this development.

Faced with this regulatory blur and the stringent tax rules, several Indian crypto firms are now looking for friendlier locations to move base. It has kicked off a mass migration of Web 3,0 and DeFi firms to countries like Dubai, where the laws are pro-crypto and less hostile. In fact, Dubai aims to position itself as a crypto hub in the Middle East region.

The Indian legislation on cryptocurrencies was long anticipated. Despite the RBI’s concerns surrounding cryptocurrencies, which it repeatedly vocalised, some investors remained optimistic about a favourable regime due to the sheer size of the Indian crypto market. However, since the Union Budget 2022 was announced, most firms and investors have redirected their attention to more crypto-welcoming countries.

MoneyControl attended Web 3.0 events held in Dubai in March 2022 and reported a stark change among the attendees. They observed majorly Indian businesspeople thronging the Binance Week & ETHDubai events. “75 percent of the attendees were Indians. The others included Russians and Europeans,” said Santhosh Panda, founder of Foundership, a mentorship and capital investment firm for Web 3.0 projects, to MoneyControl.

Like Web 2.0 companies (e-commerce players and cab-hailing services) once registered in Singapore for their business-friendly governance, current web 3.0 start-ups are registering themselves in Dubai. The reason remains the same. Other crypto-friendly locations include Estonia, Singapore, and the British Virgin Islands, MoneyControl reported.

Also read: Explained | What are Nested Non-Fungible Tokens?

“Unfair tax policies in India are making people consider alternative countries like UAE for their new projects. On the other side, people are more likely to consider working for foreign countries to avoid tax confusion. India needs to fix up their taxation laws for the crypto industry,” said Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO of Indian crypto exchange Unocoin in a conversation with Cointelegraph.

Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal already migrated to Dubai 2 years ago to capitalise on the ease of doing crypto business. “The brain drain is absolutely crazy,” he said to The Print in a March 2022 interview from Dubai. “I want to live in India and promote the Web3 ecosystem. But, overall, the way the regulatory uncertainty is there and how big Polygon has become, it doesn’t make sense for us or for any team to expose their protocols to local risks,” he added.

Even Nischal Shetty and Siddharth Menon, the co-founders of WazirX, India’s largest crypto exchange by volume, have reportedly relocated to Dubai. Shetty and Menon are the CEO and COO of WazirX, respectively. It is worth noting that the exchange witnessed a trading volume nosedive of up to ~90 percent following the crypto legislation announcement.

“The challenges that crypto investors are facing today can lead to an array of disadvantages for the entire system. It can also lead to traders transacting on peer-to-peer exchanges instead of the Indian exchanges that are Know Your Customer compliant. It will also result in the government losing out on tax revenues. Under such unfavourable circumstances, we will see more and more start-ups in crypto and Web 3.0 move abroad. We must stop this brain drain by bringing in more conducive and concrete policies that will help us make it in India,” said Shetty to Cointelegraph.

Interestingly, blockchain research and analysis firm Chainalysis reported that in October 2021, i.e., before the crypto regulations were announced, India’s crypto adoption rate was second only to Vietnam’s. Between July 2020 and June 2021, India registered a 641 percent jump in crypto transactions. Considering a 1.4 billion-strong population with tech-savvy youth and a still-developing financial system, India was perfectly poised to take the crypto world by storm.

Also read: Explained | What is Ethereum’s Beacon Chain and its significance?

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Crypto exchange WazirX’s founders move to Dubai; but ‘it’s business as usual’ at Indian HQ

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Co-founders of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, Nischal Shetty and Siddharth Menon, have shifted base to Dubai, Business Today reported quoting sources.

Sources said that the two have moved to Dubai with their families even as WazirX continues to operate from its headquarters in Mumbai.

WazirX employees free to work from anywhere

At present, all employees of the cryptocurrency exchange, which is backed by Binance, are working remotely. Another co-founder and chief technology officer Sameer Mhatre continues to operate from India, the report said.

Also read: At IMF meeting, FM Nirmala Sitharaman warns of crypto misuse in terror financing

When contacted by CNBC-TV18, a company spokesperson said it had not shifted its headquarters from India.

“We are a remote-first organisation with employees in over 70 locations. This gives all the company employees the option to work from anywhere, subject to their comfort and convenience, unless they are required to travel officially. WazirX is headquartered in Mumbai and there is no change in any of our operating procedures. It is business as usual,” the WazirX spokesperson told CNBC-TV18.

New projects

Shetty and Menon have reportedly stepped away from active daily operations at WazirX to focus on new projects, Moneycontrol had reported earlier.

In February, Shetty had announced he was working with US-based crypto innovator Omar Sayed on a project called ‘Shardeum.’ The same month, Menon said he would be launching Tegro, a Web3 game ecosystem marketplace, with game development firm SuperGaming.

Life after crypto tax

There has been a lot of chatter around brain drain after the Indian government announced a 30 percent tax on virtual digital assets from April 1 this year in addition to the 1 percent tax deductible at source. The tax has resulted in a significant drop in trading volumes in cryptocurrency exchanges.

Also read: Crypto is like ‘casino’ & gains should be taxed at 50%: Ex-Bihar FM Sushil Modi

Adding to investors’ woes, the government has said companies could not set off losses on virtual digital assets against profits. Crypto mining has also been brought under the tax net, which drew severe criticism from the industry players.

In recent years, several Indian entrepreneurs have shifted their businesses to crypto-friendly jurisdictions despite the steep cost of setting up shop in those countries.

Also read: Why was Coinbase’s crypto payment service suspended days after its India launch?

In 2018, crypto exchanges ZebPay and Vauld moved to Singapore. Other companies like CoinSwitch Kuber and CoinDCX are also registered in Singapore. Polygon, founded in India, shifted to Dubai, while Mudrex set up shop in the US in 2019.

Countries like the US, Dubai, Singapore, Mauritius, and the Cayman Islands have legalised cryptos, making them hotspots for crypto innovators and influencers.

“The lack of clarity on what the crypto regulatory framework will look like is making investors rethink their decision to make India the base for launching crypto platforms and products,” Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia, Partner and Head-FinTech at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co told CNBC-TV18.

Also read: ‘No sale, no profit, no tax’: Some crypto traders plan to put portfolios on hold for years

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: What is sharding and its role in blockchains

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Why do blockchains need sharding?

The Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains, the firsts in the world, currently deploy the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism in their modus operandi. This entails the dedication of tremendous computing power towards the decryption of transaction data which involves complex mathematical computations.

Each one of these powerful computing systems on the network is called a node, and the globally scattered nature of their network is what provides the necessary decentralisation to the blockchains.

Also Read: What is the significance of April 5 – Satoshi Nakamoto’s birthday?

They also run the necessary security protocols required by the blockchain. The greater the number of nodes, the greater is the decentralisation and hence greater is the security. However, the addition of too many nodes clogs the blockchain network and thus slows down the processing. Blockchains have been facing this classic ‘trilemma’ of simultaneously achieving scalability, security, and decentralisation since their inception.

So, if we need more nodes whilst decongesting the blockchain network, what do we do about the reduced processing speed? Here’s where sharding comes in.

What is sharding?

The philosophy behind ‘sharding’ is the horizontal spread of processing power instead of continuously adding it to one blockchain. But before the blockchain is scaled, we must reduce the amount of computing power required from each node to sustain operations. Therefore, newer blockchains (including Ethereum) are moving to the greener and energy-efficient Proof-of-Stake (Pos) consensus mechanism.

Also Read: What is sharding and why Polygon co-founder says it may not scale Ethereum enough?

Unlike the PoW system, PoS only requires nodes to devote the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency to the network – a concept known as ‘staking’. The blockchain identifies these stakes as contributors and makes them transaction validators on the network, thus reducing the requirement of computing capabilities. Now that the path is cleaner, curtains open and enter shards.

Shards are sub-chains built over the main blockchain. They can be thought of as branches of a tree – every time a new branch is added, the tree gets bigger. Each shard acts like a mini-blockchain with its own processing power and a dedicated set of nodes. Since the nodes need not access all the data on the main chain anymore, the required computing power is further reduced. This unlocks a greater processing speed on every shard.

Now that we have a basic understanding of how the construction of the system is, let’s get to its method of working.

How does sharding work?

Over and above being connected to the main blockchain, all shards are interconnected amongst themselves and continuously exchange data. Since data from the main chain is fragmented and distributed among the shards, the blockchain declutters, runs all underlying protocols more efficiently, and acts as a decentralised distributed ledger. More nodes can now be added as more blockchain users are onboarded to the blockchain network.

Once the shards scrutinise transaction details, the data is bundled into ‘blocks’ and added in series to the blockchain. Every block is linked to the previous block and can neither be modified nor tempered with upon addition. This concept in blockchain technology is called ‘finality’.
Popular blockchains that use sharding:

1. Ethereum 2.0:

The main chain of Ethereum 2.0 is called the Beacon Chain and runs the new consensus mechanism system called Casper PoS. The Beacon Chain manages the PoS protocol and manages the shards as they keep getting added to the network. A salient feature of Ethereum 2.0 is that every shard has a randomly chosen node called the ‘block proposer’. The role of this node is to trigger the creation of a new block after the addition of each block to the Beacon Chain.

2. NEAR

The primary objective of the NEAR Protocol is to ensure that all nodes are running light client software and that any low-end device is capable of running the protocol. This enables the network to onboard billions of people with access to weaker hardware, something most blockchains are incapable of.

3. Polkadot’s Parachain:

This blockchain uses the concept of ‘parallel blockchains’ wherein a ‘relay chain’ lends its security protocols to every chain it connects to. It also guarantees that the data exchange between shards remains secure. A key feature of this blockchain structure is that all the transactions processed on each of the parallel sub-chains do not interfere with each other. Throughput is multiplied by parallel processing.

4. Shardeum:

The first layer 1 blockchain indigenous to India, Shardeum is a project co-founded by WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and Omar Syed. It is currently under development and will take on the likes of Ethereum and Solana. According to the official website, Shardeum will feature “infinite scalability, true decentralisation, and solid security.” It will be capable of onboarding 1 billion people and become the foundational infrastructure to build web 3.0 on.

Blockchains have been plagued by the lack of scalability since their inception and Shardeum intends to tackle the problem head-on. Ensuring throughput while handling such large volumes is another challenge that Shardeum will overcome. The whitepaper hasn’t been released but is expected soon.

This is a partnered post.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Cryptocurrency Podcast: Are these Altcoins on your radar?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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At CNBCTV18.com, we have been tracking the fervour and popularisation of various cryptocurrencies closely.

Manisha Gupta of CNBC-TV18 spoke to Tarusha Mittal- COO and CO-Founder at UniFarm and Rashmi R Padhy- VP, Biz Operations at WazirX about recent trends and categories surrounding altcoins and their future.

Although Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular forms of cryptocurrencies today–amounting to over 60 percent of the market share– many other altcoins have shown the potential for massive growth. This episode deeps dive into how investors can make an informed decision before investing in these altcoins.

Tune in to Cryptocurrency Podcast to know more.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on CNBCTV18.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. CNBCTV18.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Note: This is a partnered post.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Cryptocurrency Podcast: The future of events in Metaverse

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Metaverse is rapidly changing the landscape of interactive media and communication.

Manisha Gupta of CNBC-TV18 spoke to Rohit Kundliwal, Cryptocurrency Marketing Manager at WazirX, and Sai Krishna, VK- Founder at Scapic, about the future of the events in the metaverse.

They talk about the potential of events in the metaverse and how the metaverse is bridging generational gaps with offerings that span across age groups and social groups.

To learn how this promising technology will become more immersive and engaging, akin to in-person meetings, tune in to Cryptocurrency Podcast

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Celo: A mobile-first Defi platform for fast, secure and cheap digital payments

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Celo is a blockchain-based ecosystem created to drive crypto adoption among smartphone users. It was launched in a fully functional state in April 2020 by Rene Reinsberg and Marek Olszewski, two ex-executives from the web hosting platform GoDaddy, along with Sep Kamvar and Marek Olszewski. What sets it apart from other platforms is that transacting in CELO and its stablecoins takes only 5 seconds, incurs fees as little as $0.001 and enables users to pay fees in the Celo asset that they are using.

The Celo Platform boasts superfast mobile syncing with the network and claims to be hyper-efficient through lightweight clients on devices. It is also dApp-friendly and allows developers to code decentralised apps on its blockchain. It even features interoperability with MetaMask as well as Ethereum based development tools.

How does Celo work?

By replacing public keys (the addresses of crypto wallets) with unique mobile numbers, the Celo Project aims to include all those without banking access into the decentralised finance framework. Thus, it acts as a facilitator for global crypto payments by connecting all the mobile phones in the world.

The Celo Project can be broken down into four essential components:

1. Celo Platform: The decentralised, proof-of-stake blockchain protocol

The Celo Platform has 100 network validators (or nodes) who run the blockchain’s proof-of-stake (PoS) operations. It uses the Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) mechanism, which interconnects all nodes on the network in real-time. A node must ‘stake’ at least 10,000 CELO coins in order to gain voting rights on proposed changes. Staking involves pledging tokens to the network for developmental purposes and gaining validator rights in the process.

The platform not only has multiple native stablecoins but is also ERC-20 compatible, which means that the Ethereum blockchain powers it. The platform maps individual mobile phone numbers to crypto wallet addresses, thus making it a peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile transaction system enhanced with dApps. Its smart contract platform can be coded from scratch, and users can pay gas fees in stablecoins. These gas fees reward the validator nodes.

2. CELO: The native crypto token of the blockchain

CELO is the utility, governance, and staking token of the Celo Protocol. This means that owning the token allows you to transact, vote on network/protocol changes, and stake it to become a validator node and earn rewards. It is also used to maintain the Celo Reserve – a vast basket of crypto assets, including various cryptocurrencies and other assets used to maintain price stability.

There are a maximum of 1 billion CELO tokens, 60% of which were put in circulation at launch. The remaining 40% will be gradually released through gas fees and staking rewards. Moreover, 120 million tokens will be used to maintain the Celo Reserve. Its ERC-20 compliant nature means that it can be traded on various platforms.

3. Celo Stablecoins:

Celo stablecoins allow anyone to transact instantaneously and cheaply. Celo-compatible mobile dApps or browser clients allow users to buy and sell these coins. There are three such stablecoins in existence today – cUSD, cEUR, and cREAL.

Here are some characteristics of the Celo stablecoins:

Low Risk: Fiat-based tokens (tokens pegged to physical currency) depend heavily on banks for the verification of available collateral. Since transactors do not involve themselves in the activity, complete faith in the central authority has to be maintained.

Stability: Since the Celo Protocol uses an algorithmic stability mechanism, the supply and demand of the stablecoins are controlled by the protocol itself. Through various simulations, the developers have been able to prove that the algorithm is extremely reliable and powerful.

Transparency: Since the stablecoins are blockchain-powered, all transactions occur on-chain and are secure and traceable.

4. Celo Alliance: The platform that encourages community building

The Celo Alliance is built on the belief that the best way to learn and solve real-world problems is through collaboration, which must be fostered. The Celo Alliance allows users to get in touch with individuals with similar interests and thoughts, such that the ideas can manifest as a team. One can even participate in the development of the CELO Platform itself through the alliance.

Celo Use Cases:

1. Payments: Cross-border transacting on Celo is cheaper and more secure. It, therefore, boosts cross border trading and commercial activities.

2. Savings: The Celo Platform incentivises users to hold and transact in Celo stablecoins.

3. Decentralised Finance (DeFi): There are 4K+ DeFi solutions built on the Celo Platform including Ubeswap and Moola which are gateways to DeFi enabling pooling, lending and borrowing.

4. Staking: One can earn a passive income by pledging their CELO coins to the network for development purposes.

Noteworthy Initiatives:

Climate Collective: In a one-of-a-kind initiative, numerous organisations have joined hands in ‘tokenising natural assets’ that will back the Celo stablecoins. Over the next four years, the Climate Collective will strive to back 40% of the Celo Reserve with carbon limiting resources like rainforests.

The CO Giveaway:

CELO is listed on the crypto exchange WazirX and can be obtained in exchange for either INR or USD. The giveaway will be held from March 21st, 2022, to March 31st, 2022, and will amount to INR 40,00,000 worth of CELO tokens. Various events will be hosted on various social media platforms, each with its own basket of rewards. If you wish to participate in the events and get hold of CELO tokens, you can refer to the details here: https://wazirx.com/blog/celo-inr-giveaway/

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

WazirX to celebrate 4th birthday on March 8; unveils exciting prizes, discounts for users

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s top crypto exchange by volume, WazirX, is turning four on March 8, 2022. To celebrate this milestone and thank its customers for their unwavering support over the last four years, the company has announced a trading competition called ‘Highest Trader Kaun’ and exciting prizes.

The contest will commence on March 3 and continue until March 9. During this period, the top daily and weekly traders dealing in WRX/INR will be eligible for rewards up to Rs 4 crore.

In addition to the weeklong trading marathon, WazirX is also offering amazing discounts on all its merchandise listed on Redwolf.

Here’s how you can participate in the event and make the most of the celebrations!

The ‘Highest Trader Kaun’ competition:

There is also a weekly contest where a total giveaway will of Rs 5 lakh worth WRX. The top-ranked trader will win WRX worth Rs 40,100.

To be eligible, traders must hold a minimum of 100 WRX tokens before the start of the contest. To be eligible, a trader must do at least 1,000 trades.

WazirX merchandise on Redwolf:

As part of its birthday celebrations, WazirX is also offering amazing discounts on all its merchandise listed on Redwolf. The collection includes a super-cool range of t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, masks, magnets, and more.

You can use the code ‘WAZIRXBDAY’ and get flat Rs 450 off on a minimum purchase of Rs 900. That’s not all, you can also share a photo rocking the merch on Instagram and/or Twitter with the #IndiaWantsCryptoMerch and stand a chance to win Rs 1,000 worth of additional merchandise.

This offer is valid only between March 7 and 13 and can be availed by the first 500 users.

History of WazirX

WazirX began as an aspiration of its three cofounders

Their first startup was a social media management tool called Crowdfire. However, the trio faced challenges after social media companies started implementing API restrictions on third-party developers.

At this point, they realised they had to move away from centralised companies to build their upcoming projects. This was when he started toying with decentralised technology.

They began evaluating the existing crypto exchanges in the country and found that user experience was lacking and realised they could capitalise on this.

In 2018, Shetty, Mhatre, and Menon decided to leverage their tech expertise to build a robust and easy-to-use crypto trading platform. This was the birth of WazirX.

And thanks to the rising tide of cryptos at the time, the project grew from a humble trading platform to India’s largest exchange in no time.

Meteoric rise

The launch of WazirX wasn’t exactly smooth after the Reserve Bank of India in 2018. But after the Supreme Court set aside the RBI’s order in 2020 and interest in crypto trading took off after the COVID-19-induced lockdown and crypto prices soared globally, traders flocked to WazirX.

In 2022, WazirX stood as India’s largest and most trusted cryptocurrency exchange, with a total of 12 million users.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow