Rinchi
TechInAfrica – South Africa’s crypto-currency exchange, VALR has launched rand-Bitcoin trading on its platform, enabling its customers to buy and sell Bitcoin directly with rands. They can also use Bitcoin and Ether to buy and sell more than 50 other crypto-currencies.
According to VALR ‘s CEO, Farzam Ehsani, only an hour after launching the rand-Bitcoin trading, there had been millions of rand worth of trades. He highlighted that the platform has the lowest fees on the market and now there was internal pricing of crypto-currencies for the SA market.
Cited from ITWeb, VALR was launched in December last year. It’s backed by U.S-based exchange Bittrex and Michael Jordaan, a former FNB CEO.
Ehsani explained that it is important to look past the day-to-day price movements of crypto-currencies. He noted, “The price will go up and down based on the whims of people, but if you understand the technology and the impact this asset class can have on the world, you take a different perspective.”
Though VALR accepting customers from all over the world, the majority of customers are South Africans. The company said that they witness a significant amount of sign-ups with a new customer joining the platform every minute. However, the platform does not accept customers from North Korea or from the United States due to the burdensome regulatory environment.
In the sign-up process, prospective clients are asked for their name, surname, address, and a password. They are required to provide an image of their ID, driver’s license, or passport to be analyzed for its legitimation.
Clients will be asked to film a short video of themselves and follow instructions such as looking to the right and left, as well as repeating a string of numerals. Then, it is compared to the ID document. If it matches, they are now able to trade. The process takes about five minutes.
Source: itweb.co.za
