Nischal

Nischal Shetty’s story in Indian crypto is one of the most remarkable, and most turbulent, of the past decade. He began in the space with Bitcoin mining in 2009 and went on to found WazirX, India’s first major crypto exchange, which was later acquired by Binance. A software developer turned entrepreneur, he was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, and WazirX quickly became the most trusted name in Indian crypto, surpassing a billion dollars in daily trading volume and pioneering India’s first peer-to-peer trading system.
The past year, however, has been one of the most challenging in his career. WazirX suffered a $234.9 million exploit in July 2024, one of India’s biggest crypto security breaches, leaving millions of users without access to their funds. Nischal has since been navigating a complex legal and operational recovery process. In October 2025, Singapore’s High Court approved WazirX’s revised debt restructuring plan, supported by 95.7% of voting creditors, and the exchange has finally resumed operations after completing the court-approved restructuring process, a rare comeback in the crypto world. In his own words, “I don’t believe in regretting. I believe in learning and moving forward.” Whatever comes next for WazirX, Nischal’s journey remains one of the most closely watched in Indian crypto.