Africa is processing crypto at 52% growth year-over-year — and the continent's largest exchange just got an OTC derivatives licence. Farzam
About this episode
Farzam Ehsani discusses Africa's rapid crypto adoption and VALR's role in building self-custody exchange infrastructure.
Africa's crypto adoption is accelerating faster than almost any region on earth, but the infrastructure to serve 1.7 billion people across 54 countries, multiple currencies, and remittance costs averaging 7 to 8% is still being built. SELF-CUSTODY CRYPTO EXCHANGE INFRASTRUCTURE is what VALR is building at continental scale — and a new FSCA OTC Derivatives Provider licence just expanded what it can offer. Farzam Ehsani, Co-Founder and CEO of VALR, joins Ashton Addison on Blockchain Interviews. VALR is Africa's largest crypto exchange by trade volume, backed by Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Fidelity's F-Prime Capital, serving over 1.7 million registered users and 1,800 corporate clients. Farzam previously served as Blockchain Lead at Rand Merchant Bank and the FirstRand Group and was the inaugural Chairperson of the South African Financial Blockchain Consortium — making him one of the most credentialed voices on African crypto regulation alive. He breaks down what South Africa's draft capital flow management regulations actually say and why they represent an opportunity more than a threat, how the Onafriq integration gives users across the continent access to mobile money…
More episodes of Crypto Coin Show
- Self-custody crypto just got stock trading, perps, and prediction markets — and your keys never left your wallet. Shehram Khattak
- AI data is centralized and expensive — Perceptron built the decentralized mesh that cuts costs by 92%. Peter Anthony, Co-Founder
- Most Bitcoin holders sell when they need cash. Arch Lending built the loan that lets them keep both
- Bitcoin payment layer just got real — GoBTC Pay is non-custodial, instant, and open to merchants today. Mark Zalan, CEO of GoMiningn
- Most sleep trackers give your data to the platform. Sleepagotchi built the economy that pays you for it instead — Kenny Wood, CEO
- Restaking was just the beginning. Symbiotic's co-founder on building the collateral markets layer that RWAs, credit, and insurance all run o
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Crypto Coin Show podcast page.