VALR launching Bitcoin trading in rand
MyBroadband
Digital asset trading platform VALR is set to launch rand trading, allowing its customers to buy Bitcoin with rand.
Trading will begin at 11:11 on 11 June 2019, and clients may begin funding their accounts from 4 June.
VALR opened for registrations in 2018 and is headed by the former blockchain project lead at Rand Merchant Bank, Farzam Ehsani.
It raised R20 million in July 2018, and formally launched its digital asset trading platform on 1 March.
Investors in the business include international cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex and Michael Jordaan, a venture capitalist and former CEO of FNB.
Jordaan is invested in other fintech and telecommunications companies, including Rain and Bank Zero.
Bittrex, in addition to being an investor, is also a platform partner for VALR.
“We are very excited to offer our customers the ability to buy Bitcoin with rand with the best fees in the market by far,” Ehsani said.
The launch of a ZAR-Bitcoin trading pair complements VALR’s existing services, which allow you to trade Bitcoin or Ethereum with over 50 other cryptocurrencies.
Those who sign up to VALR by 11 June will benefit from the following fee structure:
- Maker fee: –0.1%
- Taker fee: 0.2%
“What this means is that market makers will get paid 0.1% of their trade value whenever a trade is completed,” Ehsani told MyBroadband.
According to Ehsani, VALR’s fee structure is at least 10-times better than what current platforms offer their South African customers, and is one of the most competitive pricing options of any cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
VALR also has a referral programme which gives traders 15% of their fees when they refer one person to the platform, and a 10% commission for referrals when they’ve referred two or more people.
Ehsani said that VALR will also offer an API to allow automated trading programs, or “bots”, to trade on their platform.