VALR offers users fresh utility with USDC

South African-based cryptocurrency exchange, VALR, is offering a fresh fiat onramp via USDC, along with the launch of BTC/USDC and USDC/ZAR trading this week.
The platform has recently reduced USDC withdrawal fees to a flat rate of $1, far below the minimum fees charged by local competitors.
USDC deposits
USD Coin (USDC) is the world’s fastest-growing, regulated and fully-reserved dollar digital currency, principally operated by Circle.
By leveraging Circle’s payment solutions, VALR makes it seamless for users to fund their VALR account via USD wire transfer.
By enabling the deposit of USDC via USD wire transfer, VALR aims to welcome international clients through a fast and frictionless fiat-to-crypto onramp, with Circle’s network spanning a host of eligible countries.
As VALR CEO, Farzam Ehsani, elaborates, “Users from all over the world now have access to VALR. Customers can now deposit USDC to their VALR account via USD wire transfers from nearly anywhere across the globe, facilitated by Circle. This is in addition to USDC blockchain deposits (ERC20) already available to VALR customers.”
Trading USDC on VALR
Having processed a total of R90B ($6B) in trading volume since 2019, VALR has added impetus to expanding its exchange offerings in recent months, with the recent launch of SOL/ZAR trading preceding the listing of USDC for exchange trading.
USDC/ZAR represents one of the first native pairings of the $40B stablecoin with an African currency, allowing users to transact more freely by taking advantage of seamless USDC transactions.
BTC/USDC is an alternative option for trading BTC on the platform and is one of the most highly traded crypto pairs across the world.
As Ehsani explains, “From 13 December 2021, USDC – a fully reserved, fiat-backed stable coin – will be available to be traded against ZAR and BTC with the full exchange trading functionality on VALR.”
“Customers will have the opportunity to use our Simple Buy/Sell feature, enabling trading with a few clicks, or place limit orders, market orders, stop-loss and take-profit orders on the exchange.”
He continues, “Furthermore, VALR’s trade and market data is entirely free to access, unlike many markets in traditional finance where market data is obfuscated and has to be paid for.”
“We intend to keep market data free and our order books entirely visible, thereby creating a transparent market that everyone has equal access to.”
To this end, VALR’s technology allows customers to use their APIs to trade markets with confidence, while paying low fees.
Looking forward
VALR’s rapid expansion over the past two years shows no sign of slowing down, with the increased onboarding of international customers and a firm focus on empowering users further afield…
According to Ehsani, “We believe that there are very many interesting uses for dollar stablecoins in emerging markets and have made VALR the place where the people of Africa can gain access to the USDC they need while benefiting from the fact that this asset can flow at high speed and relatively low cost on certain blockchains.”