WazirX Review: Is This India’s Most Trusted Crypto Exchange?

The Indian crypto race is heating up. Crypto brokers and exchanges are loading their interfaces with features or trying to bring other financial products into the mix just to live out the bear market.

Among these players is WazirX, one of India’s most reputable exchanges that offer international trading flavors to the people.

WazirX has gained over 2 million users over the past three years, making it one of India’s more active crypto exchanges, taking the official count of over 15 million since its inception.

With features like auto-matching for P2P trades followed by a robust and rewarding referral system, WazirX certainly has several aces up its sleeve, in addition to basic trading. But is it a good platform to be on?

This crypto broker has a massive social presence with Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other handles listed on the home page.

By the end of this detailed review piece, you should be able to answer the question yourself. I shall now evaluate this crypto broker across diverse parameters, showcasing its strengths and weaknesses. So let us waste no more time and get started.

As of August 2023, the XRP/INR is the most active trading pair at WazirX, followed by USDT/INR for P2P deposits.

History and Background: The WazirX Story

It was in March 2018 when three individuals started WazirX — Nischal Shetty, Siddharth Menon, and Sameer Mhatre, under the entity termed the Zanmai Labs. Since then, the crypto broker turned exchange has always tried to make crypto accessible to the Indians, all while scaling newer heights.

In 2019, WazirX expanded to the global crypto community, tying up with Binance in the process.

And while 15+ million users have used the WazirX app in some capacity, the platform currently boasts a registered user base of 6 million.

In 2020, WazirX joined hands with Binance to set up a $50 million Blockchain India Fund, helping relevant projects kickstart their gigs.

WazirX even published their Proof-of-Reserves report earlier this year — 2023 — citing nearly 90 percent of the user assets in Binance wallets. Per the last update, 19 percent of the total reserves comprised Shiba Inu (SHIB), followed by BTC and ETH.

What Does WazirX Offer?

Unlike some of the other Indian crypto brokers that rely way too much on complex offerings like margin trading, derivatives, fixed earn plans, and even other financial products like FDs and Mutual Funds, WazirX keeps things strictly crypto and that too trading oriented.

Here are some of the features that make this crypto broker stand out:

Auto-Matching Peer-to-Peer Engine

This offering has to be a game changer for the Indian crypto ecosystem. With auto-matching support, buyers are auto-matched with the sellers without intermediaries. This makes P2P affordable, fee-less, and secure.

Native Token

WazirX is one of the few Indian crypto exchanges to support a native token. Termed WRX, the native crypto is a tradable asset. Additionally, if you plan on trading using WazirX as your go-to crypto broker, holding WRX can help you get discounts. You can pay for the trading fees using WRX tokens.

If you hold WRX tokens, you are expected to get decent trading discounts across INR and even other global markets dealing in other forms of fiat.

Global Presence

Once WazirX connected with Binance in 2019, it expanded its operations to a global audience. The biggest testament of this would be the multi-fiat support, extending to the likes of TRY (Turkish Lira), NGN (Nigerian Naira), RUB (Russian Ruble), IDR (Indonesian Rupiah), and more.

In addition to these offerings, WazirX offers a pretty minimalist trading interface, with the home page giving a quick view of the “Exchange” and even the P2P markets.

WazirX Fee Structure

For any exchange or crypto broker you connect with, it is necessary to know the fee structure. WazirX is yet another platform that has a transparent fee module. However, there are many layers to it. For instance, if you are dealing in the INR markets and you hold less than 500 WRX tokens, you would have to pay 0.40 percent.

The fees drop to 0.20 percent if you hold over 50,000 WRX tokens. Or, you can have a 30-day trading volume of over 35 million INR or 3.5 crores to get down to the 0.20 percent trading fee mark. For other markets, the max trading fee is 0.20 percent, which can go as low as 0.10 percent if you hold over 50,000 WRX tokens.

WazirX is one of the few platforms that offer free INR deposits but attracts anything between 15 INR to 25 INR for fiat withdrawals. The P2P-fee model is more affordable as the exchange doesn’t levy anything at all.

WazirX has a solid affiliate program, as referrals can fetch 50 percent of the trading fees of the person you have referred. The payout for the same happens every 24 hours.

Recently, WazirX has introduced account-specific fee tiers. This way, users are charged flat rates, based on their activity, number of WRX tokens, and other factors.

User Experience and Ease of Usage: Is WazirX Simple Enough for You?

The first bit of user experience happens to be how widespread WazirX’s app presence is. This crypto broker has an app for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. Next comes the seamless withdrawal and deposit methods, with WazirX making every user flow self-explanatory, catering perfectly to beginners.

And yes, how can we forget the always-handy web interface?

In 2023, WazirX added a “Most Active” section on the app to let users know about the hottest cryptos. And yes, metadata is available for every token with relevant technical information.

Also, this crypto broker has one of the fastest KYC and identity verification standards put in place, making user onboarding as seamless as possible. Let us dive deeper into the user experience bit:

The App Overview

I installed WazirX’s iOS app, and the experience was seamless. If you go through the screenshots in this piece, most have been from my usage-related experiences. If I were to mention just the app traits in a few words, here are my findings:

1. Zero lags
2. Minimal yet usable UI
3. Easy transitions from one screen to the other
4. Built-in widget to track the price of assets
5. App-specific “learn” section
6. Direct access to coupons, gifting plans, and more.

The KYC flow

A crypto broker with a complex KYC flow is not the right one for you. However, WazirX isn’t one of those. Here is why:

To get verified, you should first register with your email ID, which gets verified first. Post that, you must set the secure, two-factor authentication by registering and verifying your mobile number. This would be an OTP-based verification.

Then, you can proceed to the KYC verification. If you wish to skip, you can. But then you will only be able to use Peer-to-Peer and make crypto-specific deposits and withdrawals. To deal in INR, you must feed the right name (per the govt ID), date of birth, and address, and validate the same by adding a selfie and uploading the ID documents — PAN and Aadhar in this case.

The confirmation usually takes a couple of minutes.

Deposits, Withdrawals, and Order Size

On WazirX, you can deposit as low as 100 INR or an amount as high as 4,99,000 INR. There is also a minimum withdrawal limit of 500 INR and a maximum threshold of 1,00,000/ day. As for the deposit and withdrawal charges, you can refer to the section that talks about “Fees.”

As of now, only Bank Deposits and Withdrawals are supported, due to regulatory concerns. When it comes to the order or lot size, WazirX doesn’t impose a lot of restrictions. Regardless of the crypto you buy, a minimum order value of 50 INR should be there.

Supported Cryptos and Trading Pair

As mentioned earlier, WazirX supports over 200 cryptocurrencies and 450+ trading pairs. When it comes to the supported currencies, USDT and INR take center stage. However, the native token WRX also has several trading pairs for users to make use of low transaction fees.

Here is the entire list of cryptocurrencies supported by WazirX followed by the top pairs over the past 24 hours.

WazirX and the Security Safeguards in Place

Security takes center stage when it comes to WazirX. First of all, there is the OTP-led login feature that keeps malicious users out. Next in line is the two-factor authentication with biometric support. Plus, the platform even adheres to strict KYC and anti-money laundering guidelines.

While releasing the Proof-of-Reserves, WazirX confirmed that it stores 95 percent of user funds in cold storage, less prone to hacks.

How WazirX Responds to User Concerns: Customer Support?

A decent crypto broker or exchange can become trustworthy and good if it has a prompt customer support system. WazirX doesn’t disappoint in this regard, allowing users with concerns to use the “Live Chat.” However, the time restriction associated with the live chat can be a deal breaker for those who prefer trading late at night, per the Indian Standard Time.

You can always raise a concern by raising a ticket or emailing the support team. As for the live chat, you can access the same anytime between 8 am to 1 am, Indian standard time.

That’s not it; there is a detailed FAQ section for almost every concern a user can have.

What Are the Learning Resources Available at WazirX?

WazirX has an info-rich blog prepared separately from its trading website. Out here, you can find topics on advanced crypto concepts, coin reports, Learn and Earn topics, and even access to the WazirX newsletter.

The WazirX blog also includes coin listings, market updates to help you track price movements, press releases concerning important events, and everything relevant to the crypto ecosystem.

Should You or Should You Not Onboard WazirX for Crypto?

If you are a crypto starter — someone who is only looking to try out a crypto broker to understand the space — WazirX is the best there is. With the interactive layout, ultra-fast P2P setups, and seamless access to TradingView Charts, this platform has everything you need to get started, even for the advanced blockchain and crypto evangelists.