VALR, South Africa’s biggest bitcoin exchange by trading volume, raised R57-million to help fund further expansion.
Proceeds from the capital raise will be used to explore new products for the South African market, including collateralised lending and derivative trading, and to broaden the company’s presence on the continent, Farzam Ehsani, VALR’s CEO, said in an interview.
The exchange was founded in 2018 and facilitates trading in more than 50 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether. It has raised R79-million to date.
VALR’s investors include Michael Jordaan, the former CEO of First National Bank, and Bittrex, the Seattle-based cryptocurrency exchange founded by a trio of Amazon.com alumni. — Reported by Prinesha Naidoo, (c) 2020 Bloomberg LP