Farzam Ehsani
@farzamehsani
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Baha'i | Lover of humankind | Co-founder & CEO @VALRdotcom (Buy & Sell #Bitcoin & #Crypto )
Earth - we are one
Joined March 2009
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
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Pinned Tweet
Today is a great day for
@VALRdotcom
Just over 6 years ago, VALR was a figment of the imagination.
Today we stand as a licensed & authorised Financial Service Provider (FSP) with a CAT I and II license for crypto assets in South Africa.
Thank you for your love and support ❤️🙏
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Binance surpassed Deutsche Bank in profits in Q1 2018.
Binance Deutsche
Profit: $200m $146m
Employees: 200 100,000
Age: 8m 148y
If you still doubt
#crypto
, it's time to question your assumptions.
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This is an historic moment for South Africa:
Today the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) declared a crypto asset as a financial product under the FAIS Act.
This Declaration was published in the Government Gazette as well as the FSCA website.
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I still hear people saying “crypto is a solution looking for a problem”
So consider this:
Normally sending $1000 from the US via banks will land you with ~$955 worth of ZAR in South Africa
With crypto, sending $1000 will land you with ~$1034 worth of ZAR in SA
Let me explain:
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I love my field of work (
#crypto
/
#bitcoin
/
#blockchain
) & was reminded today that I couldn't have studied for it as it didn't exist when I was at university.
Students: Don't let formal education close your minds to the amazing possibilities that lie just beyond your curriculum.
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US inflation since 1775.
The red line is when the Fed was created.
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"Bitcoin is not regulated. It cannot be regulated. There is no need to regulate it."
- (Central) Bank of Finland staff paper
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Proud to announce
@VALRdotcom
's $50m Series B while praying for peace in the world.
We are all one.
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1/ There is a socio-financial transition taking place in the world.
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#Cryptoassets
are helping humans realize just how superficial nation-state borders are... "The earth is but one country, and mankind it's citizens."
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I’m the CEO and Co-founder of
@VALRdotcom
, Africa’s largest crypto exchange.
Here’s how a CEX (centralised crypto exchange) works…
…and why you need to know.
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@AntonKreil
@ThisGamerSays
@dariuspel
@Overstock
1) There's no need to be rude.
2) Whatever your semantic preference, we're comparing the value of USD & BTC in *terms* of USD.
3) All monetary value is relative. If you're suggesting something different I'm all ears.
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The largest trading competition of its kind.
Sign up. Get ready.
VALR is taking on the global crypto giants with this Grand Slam.
Read the details in the subtweet.
Are you ready for the ultimate trading battle?
The VALR Grand Slam launches next week, featuring the biggest prize pool of its kind in crypto history, with up to 60,000,000 $USDT in prize money.
Be prepared, anon 🫡
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2 years ago today
@VALRdotcom
launched bitcoin-rand trading. Since then we've processed over R60 billion of trading on the platform.
Thanks to the nearly 150,000 of you that have signed up.
What an honor to be serving you!
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Big news today:
@Investec
, South Africa's leading private bank, announced today that it is gearing up to offer a digital asset custody solution soon with the blessings of the regulators.
Some banks get it.
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Yesterday the CEO of the Prudential Authority (PA) - the main regulator of banks in South Africa - sent out a note to all financial institutions in the country.
In my own words they said: "It's time to bank crypto companies."
Here's a summary of the note 🧵
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Very excited to announce this official partnership:
VALR 🤝 Visa
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VALR processed well over R2 billion in
#crypto
trading this past week:
BTCZAR: R1.7bn
ETHZAR: R400m
XRPZAR: R135m
+ more in crypto-to-crypto trading
Shout out to VALR's:
1) Tech team for 100% uptime throughout the vol
2) Support team for <1hr avg response time to customers
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VALR (
@VALRdotcom
) is now one of the top 50 global crypto exchanges (
#45
) according to
@coingecko
.
Today we hit our all-time-high trading volume and processed our highest transactional volume (>1,200 transactions per second).
We have a tremendous amount of growth to achieve.
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1/ Been getting many calls about
#Bitcoin
and whether now is a good time to buy. I'm not a financial advisor and these are my personal thoughts not financial advice. Do your own research before deciding what to do.
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VALR turned 5 years old today!
We set out to build a financial system that recognizes the unity of humanity.
Today's headlines show the world deserves better.
At
@VALRdotcom
we keep building. And we know we're not alone.
Here's to the next 5 years!
What a time to be alive.
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VALR has raised $55m to date.
Some reflections on raising funds 🧵
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2/ The organisation of our world into nation-states no longer ministers to the needs of humanity.
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1/ Just gave a presentation re VALR to an exco of a large institution.
These presentations generally stay private but in the spirit of transparency I thought it would be valuable to many to share this publicly as well.
Here we go...
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When
@VALRdotcom
started 5 years ago, there was one dominant crypto exchange in the South African market.
VALR is now the largest Bitcoin-Rand trading platform in the world.
Over the last year we’ve processed 144k BTC on our BTCZAR pair, 50% more than our closest competitor.
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If you’re a Chartered Accountant in South Africa, crazy about
#crypto
and want to join
@VALRdotcom
, DM me. We need a Financial Manager ASAP.
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@rogerkver
It actually happens in this order:
Store of value ➡️ Means of exchange ➡️ Unit of account
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I just published Open Letter to SA Regulators on Crypto
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When we developed VALR Pay, our vision was to first create free, fast and easy peer-to-peer payments and then to facilitate payment acceptance at merchants.
The acceptance of VALR Pay at over 1,500
@PicknPay
stores across South Africa brings this vision to fruition.
JUST IN:
VALR Pay is now accepted as a crypto payment solution at
@PicknPay
🤳
You can now use your
#bitcoin
on VALR to make payments for groceries & more at ALL Pick n Pay tills across South Africa.
Head over to your nearest Pick n Pay and try it out today! 🛒⚡
#paywithVALR
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Grateful for a great
@Solana
launch on
@VALRdotcom
. ~R8m of trading processed in the first 24 hrs (just over 3% of total volume across all pairs)
This SOL/ZAR volume was higher than our launch day of Bitcoin trading in 2019
Make no mistake: Crypto (& VALR) is growing!
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It’s been a remarkable year.
But what’s to come will be even more remarkable.
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Swipe through the pics to see how quickly the Fed’s Dot Plot - the expectation of future interest rates - has changed.
Each dot represents one FOMC participant's projection for the midpoint of US interest rates (%) from every meeting since Sep 2021.
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We’re busy with the final touches to enable all VALR customers to start depositing ZAR on 4 June and then to start trading BTCZAR on 11 June at 11:11 a.m.
These next 10 days are the most important ones of my 15 year career so far.
Please send positive energy!
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Today the South African Finance Minister amended the Schedules of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.
From 19 Dec 2022 all Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) will be included as "accountable institutions", increasing AML/CFT/CPF standards.
@VALRdotcom
welcomes this.
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Last week
@VALRdotcom
processed over $100 million in trading.
Today, VALR launched in Zambia.
Customers can now trade crypto with USD(C), ZAR and ZMW.
Our heads are down, building.
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Proud to announce that VALR has received initial approval from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority.
Excites to soon launch more products and services to our global customer base.
Huge credit to the amazing VALR team for this milestone & the products to come!
VALR FZE, a subsidiary of local crypto-exchange VALR, is set to expand its operations to Dubai.
#crypto
-currency
#Bitcoin
@VALRdotcom
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This message is false
@FNBSA
. The purchase of cryptocurrency most certainly is allowed in SA from local platforms like
@VALRdotcom
.
Kindly correct your message. This is a disservice to your customers as you are currently spreading fake news.
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Thanks to whoever made this. Great visual of the potential ahead for
#bitcoin
and
#cryptocurrencies
. Never underestimate adoption of powerful movements in the internet age.
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How is it acceptable for South African banks to charge users to see their own transaction history?
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@Melt_Dem
The Fed just turned "fractional reserve banking" into "zero reserve banking". Let that sink in.
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VALR now accepts card payments in South Africa!
SA debit and credit cards accepted.
I believe this is a first for crypto in Africa!
Available on web and coming to the app soon 🙌
Swipe & trade with VALR's brand new ZAR credit card deposit integration! ⚡
Now available for web 🌐
Get started👇
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16/ My excitement about the
#crypto
space has prompted me to resign from my job of the last 2.5 years as Blockchain Lead of Africa’s largest bank by market cap to dedicate my energies full time to the crypto space.
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Latest version of the
@VALRdotcom
app finally got into the App Store. Now available for both iOS and Android.
Hope you like it!
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VALR now lists 61
#cryptos
- the largest selection in South Africa and on the continent.
Excited to announce 5 new coin listings!
1️⃣ AAVE (Aave)
2️⃣ ENJ (Enjin)
3️⃣ MANA (Decentraland)
4️⃣ MATIC (Polygon)
5️⃣ UNI (Uniswap)
Available on both app and web now.
❤️ VALR
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1/ Dear VALR family,
[a note I just sent to my colleagues and now sharing publicly]
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Leaving corporate for a startup:
Sleepless nights ⬆️
Accountability ⬆️
Responsibility ⬆️
Satisfaction ⬆️
Autonomy ⬆️
Emotions ⬆️
Sacrifice ⬆️
Struggle ⬆️
Purpose ⬆️
Anxiety ⬆️
Impact ⬆️
Hours ⬆️
Fear ⬆️
Free time 🔻
Vacation 🔻
Salary 🔻
Overall happiness ⬆️
Overall decision 👍
Exactly 1 year ago we launched our website and opened registrations for our waitlist. 🐣
What an incredible year it has been. 🌈
Thank you all for your support, love and encouragement. 🙇
It means the 🌍 to us.
♥️VALR
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Today all Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) become "accountable institutions" in South Africa according to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.
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BTC is down ~70% from its peak in November. ETH is down ~80%. Other cryptos are down even further.
The volatility has taken out some big protocols, companies & funds.
Several crypto companies that haven't been taken out are cutting staff numbers.
Some thoughts:
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Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty on all 7 counts…
…1 year to the day since
@CoinDesk
published Alameda Research’s leaked balance sheet.
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So excited about the new VALR features 😍
💸VALR Pay: Make ZAR payments to any mobile, email or VALR Pay ID for FREE ()
🏦Auto-Buy Bitcoin: Buy BTC directly from your SA bank account
🆓Free
#crypto
transactions between VALR users
Update your app now!🙌
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The global response to Omicron seems to be inspired by “whoever smelt it, dealt it”
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"I am a friend to government. And a true friend does not say the coast is clear when a storm is coming."
- Thuli Madonsela
#News24Thuli
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Just got contacted by a well-known media outlet in SA who will soon be launching a crypto section. 🚀
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I spoke to 50 established asset managers and then 300 university students the following day. Only 1 asset manager had bought
#crypto
vs 150 students who had. One of those groups represents the future...and the same group's disposable income is only going 👆
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My video application in 2018 for Google’s startup launchpad programme
VALR got accepted but we then learned it involved a 3 week, all-expenses-paid bootcamp in 2 countries
As great as it sounded we didn’t have the time & declined our acceptance to focus on building VALR
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Very proud of the VALR team and excited to be welcoming such great partners!
We're excited to announce that we've raised our Series A round of R57m ($3.4m) from
@100xGroup
(
@BitMEX
) and
@4DiCapital
with continued support from
@MichaelJordaan
and
@BittrexExchange
.
PRESS RELEASE:
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Today a VALR colleague passed into the next realm at the young age of 32.
So sudden. So unexpected. So sad.
Please say her name in your prayers tonight.
Her name was Boniswa.
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1/ I've been meaning to write a thread on "truth" for some time.
Sam Bankman-Fried's guilty verdict has prompted me to action:
“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid.”
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Investec is SA's first bank to provide a
#crypto
offering with it's "Digital Asset Vault"
The media has been slow to pick up on this - only a matter of time now for other banks to follow suit.
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Tremendously grateful 🙏
VALR turns 6 today!
What an incredible journey it has been so far.
Thank you to each and every one of you for your trust and support over the years 💙
Our CEO,
@farzamehsani
, reflects on our journey, challenges faced, and our vision below ⤵️
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The lockdown's economic damage is so severe.
The problem is that we use lagging indicators to measure it.
When it finally shows up on the charts it will be so stark and too late to act.
We need to start opening up the economy now.
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1/ Crypto exchanges should be running 100% reserve operations.
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If you like solving problems, join a start-up. Or even better, start a start-up.
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Coinbase is expected to go public at a valuation greater than Goldman Sachs.
Times are changing friends.
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The first credit card was introduced in 1950 with hardly anyone accepting it.
The first cryptocurrency was introduced in 2009 with hardly anyone accepting it.
Times change.
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300sqm apartment for rent in Braamfontein (Joburg)
Entire 3rd floor of building featured in
@CNN
@nytimes
@BBC
@SABC3Topbilling
+ more
👌 views of Nelson Mandela Bridge & CBD (35m of floor-2-ceiling glass)
R21,500/month. Available Sept
Please RT for reach. DM if interested
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We received 526 applications for VALR’s Legal Counsel role within a couple of days.
Not sure if this says more about the attraction of
@VALRdotcom
or the unhappiness of lawyers in their current roles 🤷♂️
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The next release of the
@VALRdotcom
app is going to have so many great enhancements. For pros and beginners alike. Can't wait. Should be out this coming week.
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Founders live for moments like this...
Amazed. Excited. Humbled. Grateful.
Thank you.
Wow! 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣
#Bitcoin
traded on VALR in the last 24 hours!
Tremendous milestone for us. We're truly humbled and excited as ever to be serving you.
Thank you Mzansi! 🇿🇦
❤️ VALR
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Regulations are meant to serve and protect people, not oppress them.
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For avoidance of any doubt:
VALR (
@VALRdotcom
) has zero exposure to Genesis.
Stay safe out there fam.
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It happens in this order:
Store of value ➡️ Means of exchange ➡️ Unit of account
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To be able to bring a product to the market is a privilege and a blessing that few people and teams get to experience.
I’m so grateful today has arrived.
Join us at 11:11 a.m for
@VALRdotcom
’s
#Bitcoin
-
#Rand
trading launch.
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Another fiat currency failing. Money is being redefined. Pay attention.
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Your encouragement and your very first seed investment allowed us to take our first steps. I am always grateful for this and for you. Thank you Michael.
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Surreal. Incredibly grateful.
Thank you all for your encouraging support 🙏
We're still so early and there is so much more to do to improve the financial system for humanity.
Here's to the next 5 years!
❤️
5 years ago today, we launched our website.
From 1000 sign-ups on day 1 to now over half a million customers and growing, we couldn't have done it without you, our community.
Thank you for being a part of our journey!
Here's to our next chapter, here's to going global 🌍
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As the US readies itself for a Bitcoin spot ETF approval, we'll see more jurisdictions follow suit.
SA has several groups vying to create a BTC spot ETF.
@VALRdotcom
is positioned to play a critical role in the creation/redemption process when that happens.
Exciting times.
A thread 🧵
Some things to keep in mind if you're considering investing in crypto assets:
8K
4K
15K
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Tremendously excited about this partnership with
@circlepay
and our trading launch of BTC/USDC and USDC/ZAR next Monday (13/12) @ 13h12.
This opens VALR to the 🌎 and the 🌍 to VALR!
We've partnered with
@circlepay
to offer you direct USDC deposits via USD wire transfer💸
Learn more👇
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@VusiThembekwayo
Great question. Some thoughts:
- Wealth is a relative concept and the extremes of wealth and poverty is one of the blots on civilization in our age.
- However, being poor in a sea of poverty doesn't help either.
- I love this quote from the Universal House of Justice:
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Great discussion on
#crypto
this morning on
@Newzroom405
. Here are some post-interview thoughts.
#BreakingDawnOn405
@SizweDhlomo
and
@GugsM
we needed WAY more time. Let’s do it again on a longer segment.
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Over 8 million rand.
That's how much money has paid customers in rewards & rebates in less than a year since launch.
Not bad for a startup.
Makes me proud.
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