VALR Reflects on a Transformative 2025 for Crypto and Finance

[PRESS RELEASE – Johannesburg, South Africa, December 23rd, 2025]

South Africa has been on the forefront of crypto innovation and has produced one of many main regulatory frameworks internationally. Since April 2024, over 300 crypto asset service suppliers have obtained a licence. VALR, which was among the many first to acquire such a crypto licence in South Africa, additionally not too long ago obtained an Over-the-Counter Derivatives Provider (ODP) licence from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). This allows VALR to offer a vary of over-the-counter derivatives, together with Contracts for Difference (CFDs), Quarterly and Perpetual Futures Contracts, Options, Forwards, and Swaps, all with crypto belongings because the underlying. This marks one of many first events in South Africa that a monetary service supplier is licensed to supply these merchandise with crypto belongings because the underlying.

In 2025, VALR has made important strides in rising its international consumer base to over 1.7 million registered customers, with a whole lot of 1000’s of month-to-month lively customers and tens of 1000’s day by day. While the change has listed a appreciable variety of new crypto belongings, with now greater than 100 cash out there for commerce on the app throughout Simple Buy & Sell, Spot and Futures, USDT/ZAR, BTC/ZAR, and XRP/ZAR proceed to be the preferred crypto pairs on VALR.

Over the course of the previous seven years, VALR – in tandem with an more and more subtle crypto trade – has moved effectively past its preliminary providing of change companies solely. In an effort to supply an ever extra expansive suite of monetary companies, each catering to folks’s on a regular basis wants and establishments wishing to combine with crypto, VALR now allows its prospects to make use of the VALR app for funds at over 31,000 shops and 700,000 areas in South Africa. This is achieved via the app’s integration with Zapper, Scan-to-Pay, and Peach Payments. In addition, the VALR platform now additionally makes it straightforward for customers to earn a yield on their financial savings via lending and staking.

Over the course of this yr alone, VALR customers had been rewarded with over $1 million by utilizing the platform. These rewards got here from staking and lending, but in addition from airdrops, promotions, and buying and selling competitions.

Farzam Ehsani, VALR’s Co-Founder and CEO, mentioned: “We’ve labored to construct a complete platform that serves everybody – people and establishments alike. We’ve made our app and web site easy sufficient for our grandparents to make use of, whereas making our API one of the vital subtle out there to permit company purchasers and establishments to plug into our liquidity, pricing, custody, and way more.”

Bridging Crypto and Traditional Finance Through RWAs

Highlighting the progressive integration of crypto and conventional finance, this yr, globally, so-called actual world belongings (RWAs) have gained important traction. In easy phrases, RWAs are tokens issued on the blockchain that signify belongings that don’t natively reside on a blockchain comparable to gold, shares, and even actual property. One of the primary advantages of this innovation is that it may considerably enhance entry to international or in any other case illiquid markets when it comes to value publicity, for folks all world wide who may need beforehand been structurally excluded, or no less than hindered, from taking part.

In line with this significant pattern, in July of this yr, VALR listed the Garrington Capital USD Private Credit Token (USDPC), Africa’s first such tokenised asset, enabling retail traders to realize publicity to the North American high-yield non-public credit score market, an asset class beforehand unavailable to most particular person traders. This was adopted in September by VALR’s itemizing of xStocks, enabling its customers to realize straightforward value publicity to U.S. shares and index funds like Tesla, NVIDIA, Robinhood, Circle, Coinbase, Strategy, and the S&P 500. VALR was the primary crypto change on the African continent to make this product out there. This yr additionally noticed the launch of Crypto Bundles on VALR, making it simpler for rookies in crypto to construct a diversified crypto funding portfolio.

Badi Sudhakaran, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, famous: “Our improvements purpose to serve the wants of shoppers in any respect ranges, making finance truthful and monetary devices accessible so everybody can confidently take management of their monetary freedom and independence.”

Institutional Adoption and Community Engagement

2025 was additionally the yr of the rise of establishments coming into crypto. Especially within the U.S., except for BlackRock, a variety of different giant asset managers entered the house, together with Vanguard. Additionally, quite a few firms, following within the footsteps of Michael Saylor’s Strategy – the biggest company Bitcoin holder on the earth – have began to allocate Bitcoin to their company treasuries. In South Africa, there have likewise been important developments within the institutional house.

VALR has partnered with a number of of the biggest establishments in Africa – a few of that are but to be disclosed – offering the wanted crypto infrastructure for companions to construct and ship crypto merchandise to their very own prospects. With Mukuru, VALR improved US greenback stablecoin entry in Africa, and VALR is now facilitating the construct of crypto asset companies at a number of of South Africa’s most outstanding banks.

Lastly, in a push to boost extra consciousness across the potential of crypto to enhance the lives of many, this yr VALR signed a multi-year cope with the DHL Stormers rugby group. VALR’s emblem now seems on jerseys, kits, and at DHL Stadium, the place VALR hosts a VIP suite. In assist of this effort, the change has been flying a helicopter across the nation with a banner that reads “Crypto For Everyone.”

As Farzam Ehsani put it: “We’re devoted to a world the place finance unites us, turning alternative into a proper for all. Heading into 2026, we glance with optimism on the alternatives earlier than us, not simply for VALR and our customers, and not simply for the crypto trade, however for the nation, the continent, and the world.”

About VALR

Founded in 2018, headquartered in Johannesburg, and backed by main traders together with Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital, VALR is a international crypto change providing a complete suite of merchandise—together with Spot Trading, Spot Margin, Perpetual Futures, Staking, Lending, Borrowing, OTC companies, VALR Invest, Crypto Bundles, and VALR Pay. Licensed by South Africa’s FSCA, with regulatory approval in Europe, VALR serves over 1.7 million customers and 1,800 company and institutional purchasers worldwide. The change is devoted to advancing a simply monetary future that upholds human dignity and the unity of mankind. For extra data, go to valr.com.

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