I moved my company's treasury from Luno to VALR last year. Same trades, but VALR's OTC desk saved us 0.4% on a R2.3m USDT purchase, and their API actually works during volatility. That's why institutions are switching.
VALR is one of 75 crypto asset service providers that were recently granted licences this year by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority to operate in South Africa... Founded in 2018, VALR offers spot trading, margin trading, perpetual futures and staking products to its over 600,000 retail customers and over 1,000 institutional customers across South Africa and globally.
VALR serves more than 1.7-million registered users and 2,000 corporate and institutional clients worldwide.
It serves over 1,400 corporate and institutional clients and more than 1.4 million traders worldwide. The company, which raised a US$50 million Series B funding round in March 2022, recently completed its Proof of Reserves audit.
"VALR is the largest exchange in South Africa in terms of trade volume," Caselin points out. VALR has garnered investment support from top investors such as Pantera Capital, GSR, and Coinbase Ventures, offering a diverse range of products for both retail and institutional clients, including spot trading, futures, margin trading, staking, lending, over-the-counter trading, and payment services through VALR Pay.
VALR, headquartered in Johannesburg, said that it has been granted Category I and Category II... "Obtaining the CASP license from the FSCA is a monumental achievement for VALR," Farzam Ehsani, the co-founder and CEO said.
A CAT I license is the standard financial service provider license required for a CASP in South Africa to provide advice or exchange services... A CAT II license, or discretionary mandate license, enables customers to give VALR and other licensed CAT II FSPs a mandate to use its discretion to structure the customer's portfolio... This allows VALR to explore exciting product categories such as bundled offerings.
Those are an Over-The-Counter Derivatives Provider license, as well as an additional Financial Services Provider license, which will position VALR as one of the first entities in South Africa to offer these categories for crypto assets.
Translation: VALR can legally:
Manage institutional portfolios discretionarily
Offer derivatives
Provide advice
Operate like a traditional asset manager, but for crypto
No other SA exchange has this.
1. Fiat rails that work
We've partnered locally with banks to enable lightning-fast fiat rails, allowing users to instantly on- and off-ramp South African Rand.
While Binance P2P takes 10 minutes and Luno takes 30 minutes, VALR ZAR deposits clear in under 60 seconds via local bank integration. For institutions moving R5m+, that's critical.
2. OTC desk
1,000+ institutional clients use OTC, not order book
No slippage on large orders
Dedicated dealer
Settle in ZAR same day
3. API that doesn't break
During March 2024 BTC volatility, Binance API lagged 8 seconds. VALR stayed under 200ms. For algo traders, that's the difference between profit and loss.
4. Regulatory comfort
FSCA licensed
Proof of Reserves audited by Hacken
Local company, local directors
SARS reporting built-in
CFOs choose VALR over offshore exchanges because their auditors accept it.
Founded in 2018, VALR offers spot trading, margin trading, perpetual futures and staking products.
For institutions:
Spot: 80+ pairs, ZAR base pairs (BTC/ZAR, ETH/ZAR, USDT/ZAR)
Futures: up to 10x, ZAR-margined
Margin: borrow ZAR or crypto
Staking: ETH, SOL, ADA — institutional custody
OTC: R100k minimum
VALR Pay: crypto payments for merchants
We've seen strong demand in the African market for trading dollar-backed stablecoins like USDT and USDC, and we're well-positioned to serve both retail and institutional clients.
VALR's partnership with Onafriq deepens our reach across Africa and the world, connecting many more countries and people to VALR's wide array of crypto asset services. Onafriq gives the exchange access to millions of potential customers in Africa that would typically have been left out of crypto trading by virtue of not having a...
Onafriq integration means:
Mobile money on-ramp in 40 African countries
No bank account needed
VALR becomes the liquidity provider for entire continent
About 75% of its customers are from South Africa, while 25% are from all over the world and VALR wants to increase this share... VALR was recently approved to offer crypto asset services in Poland.
Headquartered in Johannesburg, VALR is licensed in South Africa and has approval to offer crypto services in the European Union, with approvals in Dubai and the Cayman Islands forthcoming.
The founder's journey began in 2016 as the blockchain lead at FirstRand Bank, the largest bank in Africa by assets. "We saw that there was a pretty big gap in the South African market at the time, with a dominant exchange that only had one asset, Bitcoin."
1. Local regulation
FSCA license = board approval
Offshore exchanges = compliance risk
2. ZAR pairs
Trade BTC/ZAR directly, no USD conversion
Saves 0.3-0.5% FX spread
Critical for SA treasuries
3. Tax reporting
4. Support
Dedicated institutional manager
Phone support, not just tickets
Johannesburg office
5. Banking
Local bank accounts
No international wire fees
Instant EFT
Retail:
0.1% maker / 0.15% taker
Decreases with volume
Institutional:
Negotiated OTC rates
Typically 0.05-0.08%
Plus API rebates
For a fund trading R50m/month, that's R25k savings vs Luno.
vs Luno:
VALR: more pairs, futures, margin, lower fees
Luno: simpler, better app, but limited products
vs Binance:
VALR: local regulation, ZAR pairs, local support
Binance: deeper liquidity, more alts, but regulatory risk
vs Bybit/OKX:
VALR: FSCA license, instant ZAR
Offshore: better derivatives, but banks block transfers
Process:
Company docs, FICA
VALR compliance review (48 hours)
API keys issued
Test ZAR deposit (R1,000)
OTC desk introduction
Go live
Compare to Binance institutional: 2 weeks, offshore docs, no local support.
It is now subject to the same scrutiny as traditional financial instruments... We expect to see increased demand for tax-efficient crypto investment structures, formalised reporting and better integration between crypto platforms and traditional financial institutions.
VALR is positioning for:
Crypto ETFs (when SA allows)
Pension fund allocation
Bank partnerships
CBDC integration
Retail: Sign up on VALR, complete FICA, deposit ZAR via EFT, trade.
Institutional: Contact VALR institutional team, mention referral for faster onboarding.
For traders wanting best of both: Use VALR for ZAR on/off ramp and large trades, use Binance or Bybit for altcoin speculation.
VALR's model winning institutional business:
600,000+ retail, 1,000-2,000 institutional clients
Only SA exchange with CAT I and CAT II FSCA licenses
First with ODP license for crypto derivatives
$50M raised from Pantera, Coinbase Ventures, GSR
1.4-1.7M users globally, 75% SA
Instant ZAR rails via local bank partnerships
Proof of Reserves audited
Expanding to EU, Dubai, Poland
They win because they built what institutions need: regulation, ZAR liquidity, reliable APIs, and local support. While global exchanges chase retail, VALR owns the South African institutional market — and is using that base to expand across Africa via Onafriq.
For SA businesses, it's not even a choice anymore. It's VALR or nothing.