WazirX founder Nischal Shetty, ex-Zebpay CEO Avinash Shekhar launch crypto futures exchange Pi42

Avinash Shekhar, Co-Founder of Pi42

WazirX founder Nischal Shetty and former Zebpay CEO Avinash Shekhar launched their new venture Pi42, a crypto-INR futures exchange that will help users invest in the crypto tokens without worrying about paying tax deducted at source (TDS).

This comes at a time when the crypto industry is gearing up for a possible boom in the market following US SEC’s approval of Bitcoin ETF and the impending Bitcoin halving event in 2024.

The platform is registered under Financial Intelligence Unit - India (FIU-IND) and is starting with offering trading options like margin trading, stop-loss orders, and other advanced tools to manage risks. Pi42 is currently offering five tokens including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, MATIC and XRP. Retail investors will be able to access crypto market with a leverage of up to 20x and no expiry dates.

Crypto futures exchange allows investors to speculate and trade on the future price of cryptocurrencies. This will also mean as the investor continues to hold the token for a longer period, they won’t have to pay the 1 percent TDS which is required in spot trading transactions.

Following its India launch, the platform aims to expand across the key global markets by targeting over 30 million Indian crypto investors over the next 2-3 years.

Shetty, co-founder, Pi42 told Moneycontrol, “The Indian crypto ecosystem has been maturing with over 30 million people now entering into crypto trading. And the obvious next step for a market like this which matures is to bring in more sophisticated trading products and futures is the next step of that. This is also the first time that a platform is offering crypto futures trading using INR.”

“In terms of volumes, futures or derivatives worldwide is 5-20X to that of spot trading. There is a market and need out there in India too. A lot of things are happening in the crypto ecosystem, lots of innovations, US approval of Bitcoin ETF, bitcoin halving coming in less than 100 days. This makes it the right time for a new player to enter India,” Shekhar said.

Shekhar started working on this new venture in August last year. Initially, Shetty and Zebpay CEO Rahul Pagidipati were angel investors, but later Shetty who was also a rival for Shekhar earlier as WazirX’s CEO, decided to join as a co-founder of Pi42.

Pi42 is currently live on web and Android apps, while iOS version is underway.

Also read: India on right track in shaping global crypto regulations: WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty

On their personal front, after quitting Zebpay, Shekhar started crypto tax computing platform TaxNodes, which he continues to run. The platform has last raised $1.6 million in a seed round in June 2023, with the participation from ZebPay CEO Rahul Pagidipati, WazirX founder Nischal Shetty, CoinSwitch CEO Ashish Singhal, and Reflexical founder Ajeet Khurana.

Apart from continuing to run WazirX, Shetty has also launched Layer 1 blockchain network Sharedeum. Sharedeum had last raised $5.4 million in a strategic round from Amber Group, Galxe, J17 Capital, JSquare, TRGC and others. Prior to that, in October 2022, it raised $18.2 million in a seed round at a valuation of $200 million from several prominent investors.