VALR's Chief Product Officer Discusses Crypto Exchange's Success and Future Trends

In a candid conversation, Badi Sudhakaran, Chief Product Officer of VALR, one of Africa’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, shared insights into the journey and success of the platform. The discussion highlighted the pivotal role of ambition, a strong team, and strategic decisions in building VALR into a global crypto force. Sudhakaran emphasized the importance of product innovation and cybersecurity in standing out in the competitive crypto industry.

VALR was founded on the vision to create a world-class crypto exchange with superior fees, API, user experience, mobile app, and a wide selection of crypto assets. Initially, the market was dominated by a single exchange offering Bitcoin trading at high prices. VALR’s goal was to provide a comprehensive and accessible platform, which it successfully achieved. Over the years, VALR’s vision has evolved to include innovative financial services for both retail and institutional clients, leveraging crypto products and financial infrastructure to serve a broader customer base.

In the competitive landscape of crypto exchanges, VALR differentiates itself by focusing on user experience. The platform aims to make crypto accessible to users of all experience levels, offering a range of services from spot and spot margin trading to perpetual futures, staking, lending, and VALR Pay. Advanced traders and institutions benefit from VALR’s world-class API, designed for speed, reliability, and scale. The platform also provides features like subaccounts and shared accounts, ensuring institutional-grade security for all customers. VALR’s commitment to fast response times and resolution further enhances user satisfaction.

As Chief Product Officer, Sudhakaran balances the integration of innovative features with speed and security, ensuring a user-friendly interface. VALR operates with a security-first mindset, making security measures simple and intuitive. The platform iterates on these measures to maintain user-friendliness without compromising safety. This approach has been crucial in building user trust and satisfaction.

VALR has tailored its services to meet the specific needs of users in Africa, particularly in South Africa, where it is the largest crypto exchange by volume and a licensed and regulated service provider. The platform has partnered with local banks to enable fast fiat rails, allowing users to instantly on- and off-ramp South African Rand. VALR’s products are engineered for institutions and fund managers, enabling them to distribute crypto products and services. The demand for trading dollar-backed stablecoins like USDT and USDC is strong in the African market, and VALR is well-positioned to serve both retail and institutional clients.

Looking ahead, Sudhakaran foresees several trends shaping the future of crypto exchanges, including the proliferation of stablecoins, the rise of real-world asset trading, and growing adoption in payments use-cases. VALR is actively building for these emerging opportunities and aims to unveil new solutions in the near future. As traditional financial institutions enter the crypto space, VALR aspires to play a pivotal role in this transition by helping large financial institutions offer crypto products and services.

VALR employs a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity, securing both its infrastructure and users’ accounts. The platform uses hot, warm, and cold wallets, with cold wallets being fully air-gapped and requiring multiple signatures for operation. User account security features include encrypted personally identifiable information, two-factor authentication, and multi-factor authentication for sensitive actions. VALR conducts regular audits and penetration tests to assess vulnerabilities and implements best-in-class security measures across the platform.

Sudhakaran envisions a future where crypto exchanges operate within a formal regulatory framework, as VALR has done in South Africa. The platform is expanding its licensed footprint across multiple jurisdictions and building infrastructure to serve a diverse range of users, including banks, asset managers, fintechs, and governments. VALR’s co-founder and CEO, Farzam Ehsani, highlighted the changing role of Bitcoin and crypto in the global financial system, emphasizing the platform’s contribution to a more inclusive, transparent, and efficient financial ecosystem.