Meet Farzam Ehsani, CEO of VALR, the Pantera-backed exchange from South Africa, on the Rise in Asia
This post is a translation of an article originally published on Foresight News.
VALR, Africa’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is rapidly expanding its presence globally, with a strong focus on Asia. Backed by investors like Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures, VALR serves over 750,000 users worldwide and is preparing to make a significant impact at Token2049 in Singapore as a Platinum Sponsor. In this interview, Farzam Ehsani, Co-Founder and CEO of VALR, shares insights into his journey, VALR’s success, and the company’s global strategy.
Farzam’s Background and Vision for VALR
Q1: Farzam, could you briefly share your background and what led you to start VALR?
From my earliest years, I was raised as a world-citizen and taught to see all human beings as part of the same family, and I am still strongly guided by these principles today.
I actually grew up in Kenya, in Africa. I studied Economics in California, and started my career at Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco before moving to South Africa to continue my consulting career at McKinsey & Company. After 5 years at McKinsey I decided to leave the consulting world and was very interested in understanding how to improve our financial system that impacts every human on earth.
I therefore decided to jump into the heart of the financial system at the largest investment bank in Africa and spent several years on a programme where I was privileged to get insight into the world of Global Markets, Leveraged Finance, Credit, Private Equity and Group Treasury.
It was during my banking years that I came across Bitcoin and ultimately became the Blockchain and Crypto Lead at Africa’s largest bank, FirstRand Bank, in 2016. This was still very early in the development of the crypto asset industry. Therefore, the various governance committees at the bank were understandably reluctant to proceed with some of our ideas. So in 2018, I left the bank and took the bold act to start VALR with my co-founders. That’s what VALR means. It stands for courage and values.
Q2: VALR is described as a values-driven exchange. Can you share something about your core values and beliefs and what it means for VALR to be “values-driven”?
At VALR we are driven by a deep desire to make the world a better place and to serve humanity to the best of our ability. This means that our primary focus is not solely on making money.
Of course, we need to be financially viable and we need to pay salaries and expenses and give a good return to our shareholders; but our firm belief is that long-term value is created on a strong foundation of values - truthfulness, integrity, justice, trustworthiness to name but a few.
Particularly in the crypto asset industry, these values and not just a “nice-to-have” but they determine the companies that survive or sink.
At the most practical level, being a values-driven company means that we will sacrifice financial gain for our values and ethics. We have found over and over again that when short-term financial gain is sacrificed to maintain the values we hold dear, the long term financial benefits are much larger. Too many companies today sacrifice values for financial gain, and many of them no longer exist because of it.
VALR’s Growth and Success
Q3: VALR has become the largest crypto exchange in South Africa and Africa as a whole by trade volume. What were the key factors behind this success?
In short, we have built a phenomenal product at a very fair price point. We are committed to excellence as one of our values, and have a firm belief that if we can’t provide the best product for our customers then we don’t have the right to exist.
Our Application Programming Interface (API) is among the best in the world, as attested to by our customers; our attention to detail and design in our backend systems and on our user interface is uncompromising; and our focus on securing customer assets and data is unrelenting.
We also believe in the concept of shared value - so as we do well, so do our customers. We were one of the first, if not the first, spot exchange in the world to institute negative maker fees to pay our market makers for providing liquidity to our exchange, and the ethos of shared value with our customers continues to this day in the myriad of campaigns, competitions, rebates and our referral programmes.
In South Africa specifically, we penetrated the market by providing the widest selection of crypto assets at by far the most competitive price point, with a product that was beautiful and secure.
Q4: As VALR expands globally, particularly in Asia, what challenges do you anticipate, and how do you plan to address them?
While we have grown to be the largest in South Africa as our first target market, entering new markets requires a deep sense of humility to recognize that the reality on the ground may be different to what one is used to.
Our entry into Asia has been accompanied by hiring new staff from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and other countries in Asia to help us take our product and services to a new market. We have been very pleased with the great reception we have received in Asia to date.
We also recognize that there are many competitors like Binance, ByBit, OKX and more in the region - we welcome this competition and acknowledge what our competitors have done to promote the crypto industry in Asia.
At the same time, we believe that our product and values will be appreciated and respected by users in Asia. Indeed we’ve already seen this with our Asian customers that have chosen VALR as their crypto exchange of choice.
Opportunities in Africa and Asia
Q5: For many of us here in Asia, Africa is unknown territory. Can you share more about South Africa and Africa in general, what opportunities does the continent offer, are there any crypto events we should know about?
Africa is a large, diverse continent, rich in natural resources and with a fast growing population. Over the years, VALR has grown substantially across the continent, but most significantly in South Africa, the most developed and advanced economy in Africa, a popular tourist destination, and of course, Elon Musk is from South Africa.
With over 50 countries that make up Africa and nearly as many currencies, there are tremendous amounts of friction to intra-African trade and there is a great desire among businesses and everyday people for a better financial system. This presents a big opportunity for crypto networks and assets to disrupt the status quo of the financial system on the continent.
Crypto has tremendous promise for the people of Africa. Going forward, Africans, who currently account for nearly 20% of humanity, also have demographics on their side. Africa will take its rightful place on the world stage over the next few decades, and we believe VALR can play an important role in this regard, especially as we build more bridges between Africa and Asia and establish mutually beneficial partnerships.
Q6: In Asia, what is VALR’s strategy to differentiate itself in a crowded market?
Over the years, we have expanded our product significantly. We offer Simple Buy/Sell, Spot, Margin, Futures, a highly sophisticated API system, staking, and we operate an OTC trading desk.
Equally, if not more important, while many exchanges have come and gone over these past few years, by sticking to our principles, VALR has kept on growing with an impeccable track-record. Since April this year, VALR has been licensed by the FSCA, South Africa’s regulator; we’ve established strong relationships with global players, and we’re increasingly seeing job applications coming in from Asia and also Europe.
What’s also important to note is that for the first five years, VALR has grown mostly organically, but since late last year, we’ve allocated significant resources to our communications and marketing efforts, and we’ve developed a range of programmes and activities that make it highly attractive to participate on VALR.
Since May, we are running VALR’s Grand Slam, a programme which rewards the Top Futures Traders on VALR with a prize pool that can reach as high as 5,000,000 USDT per month. We are also running VALR’s Global Treasure Hunt, where users can unlock crypto rewards by verifying their account, making a spot trade, staking, referring friends, and more.
Right now, we are also running Solana Summer on VALR, where each day one lucky trader is given 1 SOL, and every few days we reward top traders across Futures, Spot and Combined Volume. At the end of September, the top 5 traders get to share 100 SOL.
We’re also hosting a lot of meetups, not just in Asia but also in Europe and Africa, and we’ve noticed that while we are very interested in Asia, the crypto community here has also shown a lot of interest in VALR and our success in South Africa.
Global Expansion and Corporate Growth
Q7: With VALR expanding into Asia, Europe, and other regions, how are you approaching talent acquisition and regulatory compliance in these new markets?
VALR is always actively looking for top talent world-wide. If you’re interested in joining our team, please visit careers.valr.com. As far as regulatory compliance is concerned, this is a cornerstone of our business. We are a centralized exchange and must abide by the laws of the countries in which we operate. From our first day of operation, we have kept compliance a top priority and our 6.5 year history and one of the first to be officially licensed in South Africa is testament to this. VALR also has approval to offer crypto asset services by the Polish Ministry of Finance and we have initial approval from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority in Dubai. It’s very important to us to offer our services in a responsible and compliant manner. This is the only way to serve a large proportion of the population.
Q8: What role do you see VALR playing in the global crypto landscape over the next few years?
While we’re currently the top exchange in Africa with the highest volume and the deepest liquidity, we aim to be a top crypto exchange globally over the next few years. We are focused on building the best infrastructure for the industry where others can come to us for liquidity, a wide range of assets and products and most of all a trustworthy partner in an industry that has been beset by several scandals in the past few years. The promise that crypto assets hold for the world is immense, and we intend to help usher in a better financial future for all.
Q9: As a Platinum Sponsor at Token2049 in Singapore, what can attendees expect from VALR?
Token2049 is the largest crypto event in the world and we are proud to be the Platinum Sponsor this year. We will be flying in from all over the world, with 10 of us attending the event in Singapore.
I will have the opportunity to share my thoughts on one of the panels, and visitors can come to meet us at the VALR Networking Lounge, next to the Speaker Lounge. We will also be co-hosting a side event, together with First Digital and Gravity Team, on the 18th of September.
But while we truly feel honored and privileged to visit Singapore and get to know the crypto community in this region, in 2025 I hope to see all of you in Cape Town – more exciting news will follow soon, but for now, all eyes on Singapore!
Farzam, thank you for the insights. We look forward to seeing VALR’s progress as it continues to expand globally and make its mark in the crypto industry.
Risk Disclosure
Trading or investing in crypto assets is risky and may result in the loss of capital as the value may fluctuate.
VALR (Pty) Ltd is a licensed financial services provider (FSP #53308).
