VIDEO8:4008:40

This 36-year-old coder built India's biggest crypto trading platform

Name: This 36-year-old coder built India's biggest crypto trading platform
Uploaded: 2021-07-06T10:56:36.000Z
Duration: 8 min 40 s
Description: WazirX, India's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has surged in popularity during the pandemic as retail investors have piled into digital currencies. CNBC Make It's Karen Gilchrist speaks to co-founder and CEO Nischal Shetty about how his company was initially inspired by a rebellion against big tech.

WazirX, India's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has surged in popularity during the pandemic as retail investors have piled into digital currencies. CNBC Make It's Karen Gilchrist speaks to co-founder and CEO Nischal Shetty about how his company was initially inspired by a rebellion against big tech.

08:40

Tue, Jul 6 20216:56 AM EDT

Karen Gilchrist

WazirX is a cryptocurrency platform from India that allows users to buy, sell and trade popular virtual coins such as bitcoin, ethereum, ripple's XRP and litecoin.

Founded in March 2018 by then 32-year-old coder Nischal Shetty, the company has capitalized on the rising tide of retail traders investing in cryptocurrencies.

Less than two years after its launch, WazirX was acquired by Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, for an estimated $5 million to $10 million. Then, in April 2021, its WRX crypto token temporarily reached a billion-dollar valuation.

But while Shetty is a tech entrepreneur through and through, the millennial's foray into cryptocurrency was initially inspired by a rebellion against big tech.

"There's always a reason why someone gets into crypto," said Shetty.

Watch the video above to find out how Nischal Shetty turned his passion for tech into India's largest cryptocurrency platform.