30s Summary

Farzam Ehsani, CEO of crypto platform VALR, underlines the varied nature of African countries, stating each has unique trading environments. During a live session, Ehsani and colleagues discussed Africa’s diverse crypto environment and potential strategies for success. They noted the absence of a unified trading platform, the promise of cryptocurrencies to enhance liquidity, the overpriced remittance corridors, depreciating currencies, and the potential for crypto to bypass historical challenges of property rights. They predicted an eventual embrace of crypto by larger financial institutions, and stated that through platforms like VALR, crypto could unlock Africa’s financial potential by making financial products more accessible.

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Farzam Ehsani, CEO of crypto trading platform VALR, notes that people often oversimplify Africa as a single entity, which fail to capture the multi-faceted nature of the continent. Africa comprises more than 50 countries, each boasting a unique blend of currencies, borders, cultures and languages. His colleague, Blake Player, agrees, adding that the trading environment in Africa varies greatly from country to country, each with its unique set of rules and regulations.

In a live session, the two, along with Ben Caselin from the VALR team, discuss the unique characteristics of Africa’s crypto scene, as well as strategies that crypto exchange platforms can adopt to thrive in such a diverse environment.

Africa lacks a single unified trading platform similar to those seen in Europe and the US. Instead, multiple markets operate under varying levels of sophistication and differing rules. This variability makes a convincing case for the promising role of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to enhance market liquidity.

The VALR team also comments on the overpriced remittance corridors and the recurring issue of depreciating local currencies, which are factors that have prompted many in Africa to show significant interest in cryptocurrencies. Crypto provides a potential solution for the preservation of value over the long term. It also provides an efficient means of transferring of value across borders at cheaper rates.

The team also addresses the historical challenges of asserting property rights in Africa, which had often slowed economic progress. With crypto, such challenges can be bypassed. Possession of a mobile phone and an internet connection are all that one needs to enter the world of crypto, facilitating increased financial inclusion across the continent.

Furthermore, the experts point to the increasing interest from bigger financial institutions in Africa, even though these institutions have yet to fully embrace crypto. Over time, however, they predict an inevitable transition favouring crypto, due to its high utility.

VALR, headquartered in Johannesburg, is serving the growing demands of African investors in the crypto market. VALR currently boasts more than a million retail users and offers extensive services to more than a thousand corporate and institutional clients. It provides a convenient, bridge between traditional finance and crypto with lower fees and more diverse assets.

The goal, the team concludes, is to unlock the immense potential of Africa by providing a platform that fosters easier access to quality financial products and services. This democratization of finance is especially critical in countries where such offerings are limited.

In the future, key additions to the platform may include lending, derivatives and RWA services. Plans are also in the pipeline to broaden support to multi-chains and to explore layer 1 networks like TON. Furthermore, VALR aims to make their payment system, VALR Pay, more versatile by expanding the list of accepted external networks.

In summary, the team at VALR is optimistic that crypto, with its ability to quickly and cheaply transfer value, has the potential to transform Africa’s finance sector for better. As more financial products become accessible through crypto, they believe it will unlock huge potential and benefit many people across the continent.