Overview
VALR is a South African cryptocurrency exchange that has been operational since March 2019. It operates in most African countries and offers various cryptocurrencies that may be purchased, traded, and sold using ZAR. The exchange, which uses blockchain technology, aims to give customers a way to link their bank accounts and other deposit methods. This built-in function allows them to convert their digital assets or cryptocurrencies into fiat money or immediately buy or sell cryptocurrencies.
Products and services in Valr
The majority of cryptocurrency investors find Valr’s range of services to be appealing. These products include:
Valr Pay
Users of this product can instantly obtain liquidity by depositing money or other assets into the respective wallets of their friends and family members. Valr Pay assists in simplifying bank transfers as well. Making ZAR payments to any mobile number, email address, or Valr Pay ID is free, quick, and simple with Valr Pay. Users scan a unique QR code called Valr Pay ID to get money from a Valr account.
Valr API
For users who can fully utilize a live crypto market or follow the Bitcoin exchanges, Valr also offers an open API. Valr, which operates on numerous distinct blockchain markets, combines the possibilities of multiple platforms into one for the entire world. Users can also block their Valr account through the web in case of emergency or restricted access, adding to the API’s unique array of functions.
Cryptocurrency exchange
VALR has partnered with major international companies that offer quick trades, dependable digital wallets, and industry-leading security. These collaborations allow the exchange to support 60+ crypto-assets making it one of the most extensive crypto offerings in South Africa. Trading at Valr is categorized into two:
Simple Buy / Sell: Users only need to choose an asset, input their desired spending amount, and confirm their trade. It is intended for those with little to no expertise.
Exchange Buy/Sell: Valr offers a high-performance exchange platform for seasoned traders and market makers and earns money from trading. Market makers receive 0.01 percent of Valr’s trades as payment for supplying liquidity to Valr exchange order books.
Simple Swap
Users at VALR can purchase any cryptocurrency directly with ZAR through a Simple Swap or sell any cryptocurrency to ZAR. Customers could only exchange Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or XRP Ripple (XRP) for ZAR in the past, but now they can trade any cryptocurrency for ZAR. To provide consumers with a seamless experience when buying or selling any cryptocurrency on VALR directly using ZAR, Simple Swap pairs two liquid markets together. Simple Swaps use BTC or ETH as a bridge currency to facilitate user trades. For instance, users can now purchase DOGE on VALR using ZAR.
Trading AVAX with Rands on VALR
Avalanche (AVAX) is a layer one blockchain foundation for decentralized applications and customized blockchain ecosystems. It is one of Ethereum’s competitors and is quickly becoming the most widely used blockchain for smart contracts. It has impressive performance having a larger transaction output of up to 6,500 transactions per second without reducing scalability. AVAX/ZAR on Simple Swap is the newest ZAR trading pair introduced on July 1st, 2022, by Valr exchange. The AVAX/ZAR trading pair joins other trading pairs that have experienced a total trading volume on the platform of over R140bn ($8.74bn). Valr has completed the roll-out of the trading pair on a staged basis. The VALR Twitter account regularly updates the various trading pairs available on the platform. Trading pairs currently available on the exchange are:
- Shiba Inu (SHIB/ZAR)
- Binance Coin (BNB/ZAR)
- USDC stablecoin (USDC/ZAR)
- Solana (SOL/ZAR)
- Avalanche (AVAX/ZAR)
Deposits and withdrawals
Depending on their preferences, users can either use the money in their preferred cryptocurrency wallet or the linked bank accounts to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Overall, it is a modest experience because mobile phone transactions for bank transfers are immediate, dependable, and quick. Sometimes though, there may be delays in the time the South African banking system takes to process the user’s payments.
Users can add money to their wallets through a list of pre-selected credit/debit cards or online bank transfers. Users receive a relatively good bargain with a fixed ZAR Withdrawal Amount of R8.50 depending on the number of crypto withdrawals.
Fees
There are no deposit fees on the VALR cryptocurrency exchange. The exchange charges 0.75 percent for each trade for Buy/sell trades. Valr can help traders looking for long positions by reducing the odds through small trading commissions. The fee for takers in exchange/sell deals is 0.1 percent and paid to the exchange, while the fee for makers is -0.01 percent. It suggests that users will receive payment for making trades if they add new records to the transaction book.
Security
Bittrex, one of the top international blockchain platforms, and Valr have teamed up for the storage of cryptographic assets security. Cold storage and hot wallets are both used for storing cryptocurrencies. The multi-signature system employed by Valr Cold Storage requires using several private keys to sign any transaction allowing cash transfer. The Valr hot wallet infrastructure utilizes Bittrex’s industry-leading cybersecurity design. Additionally, they use several private keys in multi-signature hot wallets that are maintained and secured by cloud-hosted cryptographic key management services. Unlike banks, the exchange does not lend out any of the assets of its users. All money is kept fully and entirely reserved.