Until 2022, the South African government recognized cryptocurrencies as legitimate financial products. Before then, several crypto exchanges operated to provide South African public access to emerging yet extremely profitable digital assets.
VALR was the pioneer local crypto exchange in South Africa. This FSCA-regulated crypto exchange was founded in 2018. Today, the exchange has processed over USD 15 billion in trading transactions and boasts a 1 million user base through its international operation.
In this TRU Insight, you’ll walk through the latest VALR review. Explore its regulatory compliance, trading fees, and past/ongoing regulatory sanctions, which you should know about before opening a VALR crypto account.
Overview of VALR Crypto Exchange
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, VALR is a multi-regulated centralized crypto exchange (CEX) platform.
The exchange platform has a deep liquidity pool for its supported 75+ cryptocurrencies, ensuring the delivery of its clients’ buy and sell demands.
Regarding investment opportunities, VALR offers a comprehensive suite of services, including advanced trading options, earn products, and spot trading with up to 500:1 (margin market) and 2000:1 (perpetual futures market) leverage.
Aside from catering to retail traders, VALR also provides blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions to institutional or corporate clients. In fact, VALR offers merchant integration services to empower businesses to process crypto payments.
Now, let’s dive into our actual VALR review:
Regulatory Compliance
Let’s start strong with the esteemed feature of VALR—its multi-regulated nature.
As a South African crypto exchange pioneer, VALR attained and retained its regulatory license from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), FSP: 53308. It’s also registered as an Accountable Institution with the Financial Intelligence Centre (48008).
Aside from the South African jurisdiction, VALR also attained licenses from the following regulatory bodies:
- Financial Internation Center of Zambia (120220034561)
- Ministry of Finance and the Tax Administration Chamber of Poland (RDWW-451)
- Financial Intelligence Unit of India (U72900DL2021PTC390921)
- Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority of Dubai (2748)
Trading and Non-Trading Fees
| Maker Fee | -0.01% |
| Taker Fee | 0.1 |
| Instant Buy/Sell Fee | 0.75% |
| Withdrawal Fee | R 8.50 for ZAR withdrawals |
With its deep liquidity pool, VALR offers a competitive fee structure for its maker/taker and instant buy/sell feature. Compared to its leading competitors like Luno, Binance, and Coinbase, crypto users prefer VALR over them due to its relatively smaller fees.
For instant trading (buying/selling), the platform charges its traders 0.75% of the amount transacted. Say you executed an instant buy order with a total of ZAR 10000. This means that VALR will charge you ZAR 75 for carrying out that trade.
While these trading fees are generally considered competitive, VALR’s non-trading fee was deemed high by its clients. Especially its withdrawal fee, which amounts to ZAR 8.50.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
VALR provides its users with access to over 60 cryptocurrencies. However, there’s a downside for foreign crypto users as all these cryptos can also be bought or sold using ZAR.
Here’s the complete list of supported cryptocurrencies VALR users can buy and sell:
| Bitcoin | Bitcoin Cash SV | EOS Token | Litecoin | Shiba Inu Token |
| Polkadot Coin | Aaave | Algorand | Lisk Coin | Augur Coin |
| TrueUSD | Celo Coin | Ethereum | OmiseGO Coin | Avalanche Coin |
| Solana Coin | Matic Network Token | Quant Token | StormX Token | Compound Coin |
| Memecoin Token | XRP | Cardano Coin | Aragon | Basic Attention Token |
| Bitcoin Cash | Bancor Protocol Token | Civic Coin | Dai | Decred Coin |
| DigiByte | District0x Coin | Dogecoin | Ethereum Classic | Gnosis Coin |
| Golem Coin | Komodo Coin | ChainLink Coin | MonaCoin | PIVX Coin |
| Qtum Coin | IExec RLC | Siacoin | Status Token | Storj Coin |
| TRON Coin | VeChain Token | Waves Coin | NEM Coin | Stellar |
| Tezos | 0x Protocol | Cronos Token | Binance Coin | Enjin Coin |
| Decentralized Token | USDC |
Operational Countries
In 2024, VALR proudly onboard over 1 million users worldwide. Its multi-juristic nature contributed to the platform’s ballooning user base.
However, remember that VALR doesn’t operate in the following countries due to local restrictions:
| Canada | Cuba |
| India | Iran |
| Kazakhstan | North Korea |
| Russia | Somalia |
| Sudan | South Sudan |
| Syria | Ukraine |
| United States of America |
VALR Regulatory Warnings or Sanctions You Should Know
Good news for South African crypto investors: VALR has a clear name among reputable regulators. Despite being in the market for over a decade, VALR remains reliable and credible as a crypto exchange platform.
VALR was the first-ever crypto exchange to receive a dual license from the FSCA, obtaining both Category I and II crypto asset service provider (CASP) licenses.
