In this edition of Behind the startupIshan Pandey sits with Badi Sudhakaran, Product Manager of Valr – one of the main exchanges of African cryptocurrency. In a conversation without restraint, Badi shares how a spark of ambition, the right team and daring decisions helped make Valr a global cryptography force. From product innovation to cybersecurity, it breaks down what it takes to stand out in one of the most competitive industries in the world.
Ishan Pandey: Hi Badi Sudhakaran, it’s a pleasure to welcome you to our series “Behind the startup”. What has inspired you to build Valr and how has her vision of the product evolve over the past seven years?
Badi Sudhakaran: There was a blatant opportunity looking at me in the face. It was mine to take, but it required courage, initiative and a little creativity to give it life. I also knew that I needed good people to do it, and at the time, I was indeed surrounded by good people. All I had to do was convince them that it was a good idea to leave our stable jobs and start something back from zero, without any guarantee of capital or long -term success!
In 2017, when Valr’s idea was still formed in our minds, our goal was to create an exchange of world class crypto – with the best costs, the best API, the best user experience, the best mobile application and the widest selection of cryptographic assets available in South Africa. At the time, the only alternative for consumers was a single exchange with a monopoly on the market, offering only bitcoin at extremely high prices. We were able to deliver everything we decided to achieve.
Since the Foundation, Valr’s vision has evolved: today, we have focused on the provision of innovative financial services not only for retail customers, but in particular for institutional customers who can use our cryptographic and financial infrastructure products to serve their own customers.
Ishan Pandey: In the competitive scene of crypto exchanges, how does Valr differentiate itself to improve the experience and satisfaction of users?
Badi Sudhakaran: In my opinion, the largest engine in the adoption of the crypto is the user experience. There is still a perception, especially among the new ones in space – this crypto is difficult to learn, understand and use. From the first day, we sought to offer a world class experience in everything we are launching, which makes it accessible to users of all levels of experience.
From trading of spot and punctual margin to perpetual future, to be marked, to loans and the remuneration of Valr, our main offer is complete. But what distinguishes Valr is the depth of the features that we provide to advanced merchants and institutions. Our world class API is designed for speed, reliability and scale, allowing high frequency traders (HFT) and institutions to carry out sophisticated strategies.
We also offer powerful features such as shared sub-accounts and accounts, designed to meet institutional quality requirements while guaranteeing the safety of best practices for all customers. At the same time, we aim to be among the fastest in terms of response time and resolution when users need help. We believe that crypto is for everyone, and we design our products and services with this belief in the heart.
Ishan Pandey: As a product manager, how do you balance the integration of innovative features, speed and security by maintaining a friendly interface on Valr?
Badi Sudhakaran: At Valr, we aim to operate as we first execute a security company and an exchange of crypto-two. Security is always in the lead – it is at the heart of everything we plan, design and execute. Safety and convenience are often disagreement, but we strive to make safety measures as simple and intuitive as possible. We have them several times to make sure that the result remains user -friendly without compromising security.
Ishan Pandey: Given the unique aspects of the African cryptography market, how did Valr suit its services to meet the specific needs of users in this region?
Badi Sudhakaran: Valr is the largest exchange of crypto by volume based in Africa. In South Africa in particular, we are an approved and regulated cryptography service provider. We associated ourselves locally with banks to allow the fast Lightning FIAT rails, allowing users of South African rands instantly on the ramp and out of ramp – the local currency.
We have also designed our products for institutions and fund managers to enable them to distribute cryptographic products and services. We have noticed high demand on the African market for the exchanges of stablescoins supported in dollars such as the USDT and the USDC, and we are well placed to serve both retail and institutional customers to meet this need.
Ishan Pandey: With the global evolution of cryptocurrency exchanges, what trends do you provide and how does Valr position adapt to these changes?
Badi Sudhakaran: We see several major trends shaping the future of crypto exchanges in the world. One is the proliferation of stablecoins, which act more and more like cryptographic rails and unlock a massive potential in the transfer space. Another is the rise of the trade in real assets (RWA) – tassed versions of financial instruments such as obligations, economies and generator -generating products that bring traditional finances to the world of cryptography.
There is also an increasing adoption in the use of payments, with traders directly accepting cryptography and existing crypto users who wish to borrow against their assets or use cards supported by Crypto for daily expenses. These use cases quickly pass from the dominant fringe to the current.
At Valr, we actively build for many of these emerging opportunities and we are impatient to unveil these solutions in the near future.
While the cryptography industry is launching a large part of the disinformation and misunderstanding that tormented its first years, traditional financial institutions are part of space and begin to offer cryptographic products and services to remain relevant to their customers. Valr aspires to play a central role in this transition – and we have already started to do so by helping several major financial institutions to put themselves on their cryptographic feet.
Ishan Pandey: What cybersecurity strategies have been implemented to improve user confidence and platform security?
Badi Sudhakaran: Valr uses a multilayer approach to secure both of our infrastructure and the accounts of our users. Our wallets extend on hot, hot and cold wallets. Our hot wallets are online for operational liquidity and have a fraction of the assets that we manage at any time, while our cold wallets – where we hold the majority of the assets that we manage – are entirely styled in the air, not connected to the Internet, and require several signatures of geographically distributed signatories. The keys are safely stored in institutional chests with 24/7 surveillance.
From the user account security point of view, all personally identifiable information is encrypted. Authentication with two factors is activated by default. Each new device must be explicitly authenticated by the user before you can be used. Users can also lock their withdrawals on a personalized white list of addresses, and they can instantly block their accounts if they detect a suspicious activity. All sensitive actions automatically require multi-factory authentication.
We use several third -party security experts to carry out audits and penetration tests to regularly assess each potential point of vulnerability on our platform. We are continuously examining our processes, tools and practices to ensure that we implement the best security measures in class on all aspects of the platform.
Ishan Pandey: How do you envisage the future of crypto exchanges in the world, and what are your thoughts on the changing regulatory environment around the crypto?
Badi Sudhakaran: Last year the first time marked in the Valr seven -year trip that we operated in an official regulatory framework – we are now officially authorized by the South African Financial Conduct Authority. This is an important step, not only for us, but for the African cryptography ecosystem as a whole.
Manage a financial platform that operates 24/7/365 while browsing years of regulatory ambiguity testifies to the Valr world class team.
On a global scale, regulators have passed to question the legitimacy of cryptography to the active definition of the rules which will govern it. Valr already extends its imprint under license in several jurisdictions and construction infrastructure which can serve not only crypto-native users, but also banks, asset managers, fintechs and even governments.
My co-founder and CEO of Valr, Farzam Ehsani, recently said:
“The financial markets undergo enormous upheavals, bringing a world of changing to changing. The world always establishes the role that Bitcoin and Crypto will play in this order. ”
These are extraordinary times, and I am delighted to see how Valr can contribute significantly to a more inclusive, transparent and efficient global financial system.
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Disclosure of acquired interests: This author is an edition of an independent contributor via our
