South African-based cryptocurrency exchange VALR closed a $50 million Series B funding round led by Pantera Capital.
Funding was also provided by Alameda Research, Cadenza, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, GSR, Third Prime, Avon Ventures, Bittrex, and 4Di Capital.
The platform’s valuation reached $240 million in the region’s largest investment round, a tenfold increase since July 2020, when the firm raised $3.4 million from BitMEX operator 100x Group and others.
According to the company, since 2019, 250,000 retail and 500 institutional clients have made trades worth $7.5 billion on the platform. VALR offers trading in 69 trading pairs of digital assets.
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The proceeds will be used to expand into India and other African countries, hire staff and expand the product line.
VALR plans to attract new clients among banks, insurers, and hedge funds.
Recall that the South African government proposed to ban pension funds from investing in cryptocurrencies.
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In September 2021, the chairman of the Reserve Bank of the country, Lesetya Kganyago, refused to recognize bitcoin as a currency.