Hi wahwa,

We’re pleased to bring you the latest updates from VALR.

VALR IN THE WORLD

As part of our ongoing expansion efforts and to further strengthen our position as the leading digital asset infrastructure provider in Africa, VALR partnered with the East Africa Digital Commerce Summit in Nairobi as a title sponsor. At the event, Kenya’s Country Manager, Peter Mwangi, delivered a keynote to leaders in e-commerce, exploring the power of stablecoins to drive business growth.   

In October, VALR will also be a major sponsor of the Africa Blockchain Festival happening in Kenya. 

Just a few weeks ago, we surprised the world as we integrated with Hyperliquid to offer a brand new Perps product. The integration itself was a first of its kind, but what’s even more exciting to us is that with the launch of Perps, we’re able to offer our users access to over 200 markets across crypto, equities (including pre-IPO), indices, commodities, precious metals, and forex. 

We’re still in the early stages, but the rate of uptake has been very encouraging. So far, with new traders trying out the product every day, we’ve processed more than $80 million in trading volume, with most activity focused on Bitcoin, Zcash, XRP, Silver, Hype, Ethereum, and Brent Oil. To support more advanced traders and developers, we have also released the VALR Perps API documentation.

From an industry perspective, the coming together of centralised and decentralised finance is of particular interest. In a podcast, VALR’s Co-Founder and CEO, Farzam Ehsani, explored this in greater depth with Hyperliquid’s Co-Founder and CEO, Jeff Yan. 

Last month, VALR completed its latest Proof of Reserves technical verification with Hacken. 

The verification confirmed a 1:1 backing for all in-scope digital assets, with total collateral ratios above 100%. Hacken audited client liabilities, verified ownership of reserve wallets and bank-held balances, reviewed loan liabilities, and confirmed that holdings fully cover user balances.

By engaging an independent auditor to conduct regular Proof of Reserves technical verifications, VALR continues to maintain rigorous financial security standards and safeguard user assets across its platform.

NEW IN PRODUCT

It is now possible to borrow against your crypto. This means users are able to free up additional funds, without having to sell their crypto holdings. There are various reasons why this may be of interest. For some users, borrowing might help to cover an unexpected real-world expense. For others, borrowing could free up funds to pursue niche trading opportunities.

We’ve done our best to make borrowing on VALR as easy and straightforward as possible. Loans can be secured with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other supported assets. Funds are credited instantly to your VALR account and can be traded, converted to fiat, withdrawn, or spent with VALR Pay.

If you want to learn more about how to borrow on VALR, check out our product walkthrough. 

A few small quality-of-life updates are now available in the VALR app. Dark mode, currently in beta, can be turned on in Settings, and the Assets page now includes a portfolio tracker for a clearer view of holdings and performance.

We’ve also added new Perps markets across crypto, stocks, and ETFs: