VALR pioneers xStocks in South Africa
Africa’s largest crypto exchange becomes the first platform on the continent to introduce tokenised U.S. equities trading.
VALR, Africa’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, today announced the launch of xStocks on its platform. This offering enables customers to gain price exposure through tokenisation of leading U.S.-listed equities, including Tesla, NVIDIA, Robinhood, Circle, and Coinbase. With this move, VALR becomes the first crypto exchange in the region to offer tokenised equities, marking a significant step towards financial inclusion and simplified investment opportunities across Africa.
xStocks, launched by Backed in May 2025, are 1:1-backed tokenised representations of U.S.-listed equities and ETFs, providing price exposure to token holders. However, the xStocks tokens do not confer ownership rights, voting rights or other shareholder rights and privileges to token holders. These tokens can be traded on VALR’s Spot market against TetherUSD (USDT) or against other crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, or even the South African rand, via the Simple Buy/Sell terminal. Additionally, xStocks can be deposited and withdrawn via the Solana network, ensuring seamless and efficient transactions across the crypto ecosystem.
This launch reflects a growing global trend of tokenising real-world assets, further bridging the gap between traditional finance and the crypto economy. By offering xStocks, VALR empowers its users to diversify their portfolios with price exposure to some of the world’s most prominent companies, fostering greater access to global markets and simplifying investment strategies.
The introduction of xStocks follows VALR’s recent launch of the Garrington Capital USD Private Credit Token (USDPC), a yield-bearing crypto asset, as part of its broader VALR Invest initiative. These developments underscore VALR’s commitment to delivering innovative financial products that enhance portfolio diversification and accessibility.
Farzam Ehsani, Co-Founder and CEO of VALR, commented: “The launch of xStocks on our platform represents a pivotal moment in advancing access to innovative products that brings choice and inclusion to people in South Africa, with a plan to make the product available to the continent and globally in the near future. By blending crypto and traditional finance, we are forging a financial system that brings down barriers and serves many more with unprecedented ease. This initiative not only strengthens VALR’s global profile but also reaffirms our commitment to bringing innovation and progress to our phenomenal community of VALR users.”
“We’re excited to have xStocks on VALR, marking another step in the xStocks mission to bring tokenised equities to users worldwide, in the platforms they use,” said David Henderson, Head of Growth at Backed, the issuer of xStocks. “We have seen incredible adoption for these assets, and now users from Africa will be able to access them on VALR, participating in tokenised capital markets.”
About VALR
Founded in 2018, VALR is Africa’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, serving over 1,400 corporate and institutional clients and more than 1.5 million users worldwide. Headquartered in Johannesburg, VALR offers a comprehensive suite of crypto products, including Spot Trading, Spot Margin, Futures, Staking, Lending, API services, Subaccounts, OTC Trading, Simple Buy & Sell, and VALR Pay. Licensed by the FSCA in South Africa and with approval to serve parts of the European Union, VALR has secured $55 million in equity funding from leading investors, including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, GSR, and F-Prime, affiliated with Fidelity Investments. For more information, visit valr.com
About xStocks
xStocks are a line of tokenised equities and ETFs launched and tokenised by Backed Finance, providing compliant, 1:1-backed tokenised equities available across multiple exchanges and blockchain ecosystems. For more information, visit https://xstocks.com