South Africa's VALR pioneers tokenizing tangible assets across Africa
In a groundbreaking move, South Africa's largest crypto exchange by trade volume, VALR, has launched the Garrington Capital USD Private Credit Token (USDPC). This innovative product marks a significant step in integrating traditional finance with the crypto ecosystem, particularly in Africa.
The USDPC is a yield-bearing token backed by tokenized private credit assets. Specifically, it represents a diversified portfolio of senior secured, asset-backed loans managed by Garrington Capital, a firm with a strong 25-year track record and over $6 billion deployed in North America.
This launch democratizes access to traditionally exclusive financial products by fractionalizing private credit through blockchain technology. It enables 24/7 liquidity, reduced settlement costs, and broader access for retail and institutional investors in Africa and globally.
The USDPC targets annual returns of 8-10%, offering investors exposure to institutional-grade private credit investments that were previously highly exclusive and illiquid. It provides portfolio diversification, currency risk hedging, and low correlation with other asset classes.
Farzam Ehsani, co-founder and CEO of VALR, expressed excitement about bringing the USDPC to clients, stating, "This offering underscores our commitment to providing more people around the world with access to financial products that have traditionally been highly exclusive, and offering innovative investment solutions that truly empower our customers."
VALR, a digital asset platform, is fully licensed by South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and serves over 1,400 corporate and institutional clients and more than 1.4 million traders worldwide. The platform allows customers to buy, sell, store, and transfer Bitcoin and 60 other cryptocurrencies, and offers a comprehensive suite of crypto products including spot trading, futures, staking, lending, OTC trading, and VALR Pay.
VALR has regulatory approvals in Europe and initial approval from Dubai's VARA. The company recently raised a US$50 million Series B funding round in March 2022. The USDPC is now available to all VALR clients.
This innovation supports the broader trend of tokenizing real-world assets to increase transparency, accessibility, and efficiency in finance. The USDPC offers stablecoin holders, asset managers, and businesses a unique opportunity to diversify portfolios, protect against currency risk, and access consistent, risk-adjusted returns with low correlation to traditional markets.
- Investors can access institutional-grade private credit investments through the trading of the Garrington Capital USD Private Credit Token (USDPC), which is backed by tokenized private credit assets and launched by South Africa's largest crypto exchange, VALR.
- Technology, through blockchain, facilitates the democratization of traditionally exclusive financial products by enabling 24/7 liquidity, reduced settlement costs, and broader access for retail and institutional investors, as demonstrated by the launch of the USDPC.
