Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_621e76fb8de4a" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“There is no longer any room for doubt regarding the impact crypto assets are having on our global financial system,&#8221; said Farzam Ehsani, VALR CEO and co-founder</li>
 <li>VALR has processed over $7.5 billion in trading volume since its 2019 launch</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



South African crypto exchange VALR raised a $50 million venture capital round in one of the largest fundraises for the continent on record.



The exchange raised $50 million — bringing the company’s valuation to $240 million — in a Series B round led by crypto asset manager Pantera Capital, VALR said Tuesday.



The round was oversubscribed with investors including Alameda Research, Cadenza, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, GSR, Third Prime and Avon Ventures, which is affiliated with Fidelity Investments. Existing investors Bittrex and 4Di Capital also wrote checks.



The funds will be used to expand across Africa and into other emerging markets like India, as well as bringing new products and services onboard and hiring.&nbsp;



In July 2020, VALR raised $3.4 million in a Series A. Its valuation has grown tenfold since.



“There is no longer any room for doubt regarding the impact crypto assets are having on our global financial system,&#8221; Farzam Ehsani, VALR CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.



VALR users can trade and custody more than 60 cryptocurrencies with relatively low fees. Since its 2019 launch, the startup has processed more than $7.5 billion in trades between 250,000 retail customers and 500 institutional clients.



Crypto has grown in Africa as funds have deployed capital to the continent. From July 2020 to June 2021, crypto adoption in Africa increased 1,200%, according to <a href="https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/africas-grassroots-cryptocurrency-adoption/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chainalysis</a>. Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania are considered regional crypto hubs.



“In addition to being the third-fastest growing cryptocurrency economy, Africa also has a bigger share of its overall transaction volume made up of retail-sized transfers than any other region at just over 7%, versus the global average of 5.5%,” the report says.&nbsp;



Last year, rapper Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey, current CEO of <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorseys-square-to-change-its-name-to-block/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Block</a>, formerly known as Square, created <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=africa#:~:text=Jack%20Dorsey%20and%20Jay%2DZ%20Created%20%E2%82%BFtrust%3B%20Here%E2%80%99s%20How%20its%20Board%20Plans%20to%20Deploy%20the%20500%20Bitcoins" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">₿trust</a>, a new endowment of 500 bitcoins for development across Africa and India. Three of the four ₿trust board members are in Nigeria, with one based in South Africa. 



&#8220;The world is on the precipice of huge financial change,” Ehsani said. “Crypto assets will become more and more pivotal to all our lives.”



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In One of Africa’s Largest Crypto Raises, South African Exchange Takes In $50M

<div id="highlights-block_6216a7ee49b33" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Dubbed Zebec Pay, the product is a tax-compliant, on-chain payroll processor that pays employees via USDC or other stablecoins within seconds</li>
 <li>Within a few months of launching, the protocol has over 250 projects built on the blockchain</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



A Solana crypto payment processor closed a $15 million venture round as demand for the proof-of-stake protocol lingers after its explosive growth last year.



Zebec’s Series A round was led by Distributed Global and Solana Ventures. The company did not disclose its latest valuation.



Other investors include Alameda Research, Circle, Coinbase, GoldenTree Asset Management and Lightspeed Venture Partners.



The platform enables continuous, real-time settlements and can be used to send and receive money for investments, payments and subscriptions. Dubbed Zebec Pay, the product is a tax-compliant, on-chain payroll processor that pays employees via USDC or other stablecoins within seconds.&nbsp;



Support for USDC “onboards a new generation of workers to the digital asset economy,” Circle Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Fox-Green told Blockworks.



&#8220;For crypto-curious employees, providing an option to allocate a portion of their paycheck into crypto is an easy way for them to get started, without having to transfer funds from a traditional banking system,&#8221; Fox-Green said.



<a href="https://zebec.io" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zebec</a> launched in November 2021 and has raised $21 million in all and plans to raise additional funding “soon,” Founder Sam Thapaliya told Blockworks. “Our goal is growth and to grow fast.”



The protocol now supports more than 250 projects. Zebec additionally plans to launch a debit card that supports fiat-to-crypto conversion — a major force, in Thapaliya’s eyes, when it comes to driving mainstream crypto adoption.



The protocol is focused on scaling partnerships with products focused on a range of crypto products, including fractionalized non-fungible tokens (NFTs), yields and options, he said.&nbsp;



“People are doubling down on this idea of continuous money, and this is just the starting point,” Thapaliya said.



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