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>
 
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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_61894876a1652" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Additional investors include Solana and Dapper Labs as well as individuals from Coinbase, Kraken Ventures and more </li>
 <li>To date, the venture capital firm has made approximately 36 investments in digital finance across companies that focus on custody, exchanges, asset management, payments, data and analytics and DeFi</li>
 </ul>
 
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Cadenza Ventures raised $50 million for its crypto venture fund, the company announced Monday.&nbsp;



The early stage fund is led by Cadenza Ventures’ Co-Founders and Managing Partners Kumar Dandapani and Max Shapiro and anchored by VanEck.&nbsp;



Others in the round include: <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-solana-ventures-and-lightspeed-create-100m-web3-gaming-investment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solana</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/dapper-labs-backer-animoca-scores-85m-to-further-invest-in-the-metaverse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dapper Labs</a>, WorldQuant Ventures, Mirana, TRON, Lennertz, Babel Finance, Social Leverage as well as individual investors from <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/hayden-capital-coinbase-will-hit-50b-in-revenue-by-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase</a>, Kraken Ventures, Angellist and Norwest Venture Partners.



“We’re very excited to continue investing in entrepreneurs and developers that are working tirelessly to revolutionize financial services around the world,” Shapiro said in a statement.&nbsp;



The fund will use the capital to invest in crypto platforms and blockchain technologies internationally, the firm said.&nbsp;



The firm has already made its first investments in companies, including Rain, Vauld, Lemon Cash, Tulip Protocol and ZEBEDEE.



To date, the venture capital firm has made approximately <a href="https://www.cadenza.vc/portfolio" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">36 investments</a> in digital finance across companies that focus on custody, exchanges, asset management, payments, data and analytics and DeFi, according to its website.



For reference, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/blockfi-to-launch-new-product-suite-with-private-firm-neuberger-berman/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BlockFi</a> and Casa are two of the 36 companies that it has invested in.



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