Headquartered in Johannesburg and backed by Pantera, VALR is the continent's largest exchange by volume, serving more than 1,000 corporate customers and 800,000 traders worldwide. Masu. Recently, VALR has been active in Asia. Who is driving this initiative? What are his values and development strategy?
We are pleased to have Ben Caselin, Chief Marketing Officer of VALR.com, tell us his story and the future direction of VALR. Ben has many years of experience in the digital assets space, primarily in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, with a focus on driving Bitcoin adoption in emerging markets. His comments are often quoted and published by top media outlets. Additionally, he is an active speaker at conferences worldwide.
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Ishan Pandey: You have had a diverse career in the crypto industry in Asia and the Middle East. Can you share with us some of the key moments in your journey so far that have shaped your current role at VALR?
Ben Keislin: Like most people in the cryptocurrency industry, my journey has been interesting to say the least. In Hong Kong, I have had both the good fortune and misfortune of experiencing the entire lifecycle of a crypto business, from launching an exchange to building a global brand and capturing multiple markets around the world. I was faced with a sudden and complete collapse. All the chaos that comes with it.
My experience in Hong Kong began somewhat underground, writing niche articles and participating in obscure networking events. But over the years, I've watched the space grow: the ICO boom, the rise of DeFI, institutions entering the space, and the birth of Web3.
In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, my job is much more focused on interacting with banks, regulators, officials, and even royal families, which allows me to learn a lot about the huge opportunities that cryptocurrencies unlock around the world. I was able to gain some insight.
It was also at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai that I met Badi Sudhakaran, one of the co-founders of VALR. That meeting was certainly an important moment.
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Ishan Pandey: What unique insights and experiences did you gain while working in Hong Kong and Dubai that are now being used at VALR?
Ben Keislin: When it comes to my profession, I have always been values-oriented. No one can doubt it. But the big lesson I had to learn is that it's really important to make sure the people you partner with and the company you work for share your values. Once the adjustment is complete, amazing results are achieved.
You see, VALR was in front of me. Founded in 2018, it has grown primarily organically to become the continent's largest exchange by trading volume, serving over 1,000 institutional clients. VALR was great before me and great without me, and I'm happy to be a part of it.
I'm excited about bringing Asia and Africa together, just as I was enthusiastic about bringing Hong Kong and Dubai together. Because these connections can accelerate growth.
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Ishan Pandey: What brought you to VALR and how has your role as CMO evolved since you joined in November 2023?
Ben Keislin: Toward 2023, I was seriously considering leaving the exchange industry and focusing on simple grassroots Bitcoin education on a remote island somewhere. During this period of reflection, I wrote a book called “.
On page 19, reflecting on society, I wrote: “…it helps us see and appreciate the processes that we have been working on over the last 100 years alone, including the invention of the automobile, airplanes, spaceships, telecommunications, the Internet, and Bitcoin. unity About humanity and that the world is indeed just one country. ”
Now, why am I sharing this? Now, when you go to the “About Us” section, you will see
With this in mind, I think it's now clear why I joined VALR. Everything clicked.
In my role, the first few months will be spent building a strong communications and marketing department, hiring talent, and working hands-on with the team to prepare the platform for global expansion and viral growth. I focused on it. We are currently in an exciting phase where many new users are joining and onboarding VALR. I believe this is the beginning of a great love between VALR, Asia, and ultimately the world.
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Ishan Pandey: VALR is known for its strong values and community focus. How does your vision align with the company's ethos, and what new direction does it bring?
Ben Keislin: At a core level, my co-founders at VALR and I share the vision that material progress (i.e. technology) alone is not enough to change the world. Material progress must go hand in hand with ethical progress.
At VALR, this is not just about how we view our user base and the partners we work with. The concepts of ethics, unity and a commitment to integrity are also part of our company culture. This is so refreshing.
I don't know exactly what I brought about, but my co-workers might say that I increased my intensity level and, along with it, my stress level. At the end of the day, I think we're all excited about what lies ahead if we persevere. What can you say other than “Add more oil!”?
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Ishan Pandey: VALR has ambitious plans for Asia. Can you tell us more about your strategy for entering this market and the main challenges you expect to face?
Ben Keislin: Although VALR is mainly known as a strong player in South Africa, our biggest customers are actually already in Asia. In the coming months, we will continue to host meetups, attend conferences, and build partnerships. We also plan to release a Chinese version of the app soon.
At the same time, we introduced some really strong incentive programs to really drive growth and volume while meeting more people and growing our community.
Every month, we reward our top futures traders with a prize pool of up to 5 million USDT per month, depending on their trading volume. Solana Summer is also in its final week, distributing over 300 SOL in rewards to traders of all levels.
A global treasure hunt for both existing customers and new participants where users earn USDT and USDC rewards by completing simple tasks such as completing KYC, performing transactions, referring friends, and staking. I am. In October, we will also launch trading competitions based on P&L and ROI performance, which will help level the playing field.
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Ishan Pandey: Asia is home to some of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. What makes VALR's services unique in this competitive market?
Ben Keislin: The region is home to a number of exchanges with a Forex, e-commerce or online gambling background. The growth philosophy underlying these interactions is highly effective.
VALR is completely different. VALR was founded to solve society's problems, and while profits are important to us, we put people before profits. VALR is a customer-first organization and everyone who does business with us proves this.
Of course Asia is of great interest to us, but this market is also very saturated and people are hungry for new opportunities. VALR is developing such opportunities by building bridges between various cryptocurrency hubs and effectively opening up Africa to partners in Asia, Europe and the US, while expanding its user base globally. Masu.
As many know, the African market is increasingly seen as fertile ground for crypto adoption due to high inflation, banking inefficiencies, and the need for financial inclusion. By bringing together these two regions, Asia's established crypto markets and Africa's emerging markets, VALR is leveraging a unique growth strategy that few other exchanges are in a position to pursue. Our support from Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures and GSR, as well as our recent license in South Africa under the FSCA, also contributes to VALR's unique position.
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Ishan Pandey: As VALR continues to expand globally, what kind of partnerships do you hope to build in Asia?
Ben Keislin: VALR values partnerships and welcomes partnerships with anyone who wants to advance humanity. On the OTC side, we have partnered with Circle and Tether to provide deep liquidity across various blockchain protocols. We are also partnering with some of Africa's largest fintech companies that serve millions of customers by building on VALR and enabling them to use our infrastructure. However, apart from crypto-native and fintech companies, we are also in advanced discussions with some of Africa's largest banks, but we are not yet at liberty to share further details on this.
This is no different in Asia. We are open to partnering with any company, including new Web3 projects, stablecoin issuers, fintechs, and liquidity providers, as well as KOLs, trading groups, and aggregators. Growth means building connections, and that's exactly what we're doing.
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Ishan Pandey: Are there any specific skills or expertise you are currently looking for for Asian professionals interested in joining VALR?
Ben Keislin: VALR is a fully remote company with staff located all over the world, including Asia. We are continually expanding our workforce, particularly with our growth in Asia and Europe, and are looking for more dedicated and talented individuals to join our team, not only in marketing but also in business development and customer service. We are looking for human resources. , and other major operational departments of the exchange.
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Ishan Pandey: As crypto regulation rapidly evolves, why is 2024-2025 a critical time for the industry, and how is VALR positioned for long-term success?
Ben Keislin: It is no exaggeration to say that the world is in chaos. On a macro level, unprecedented fluctuations have occurred across financial markets, putting the global financial system under great strain, and geopolitically, the world is no longer any safer.
We believe that the adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is a key part of solving some of the world's biggest problems. For us, this simply means we need to stay the course. Integrity always wins. We believe that by remaining true to our values such as unity, integrity, transparency and justice, we have the greatest chance of long-term success.
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Ishan Pandey: What broad goals do you hope to achieve with VALR over the next few years, especially in terms of global growth and industry impact?
Ben Keislin: We live in a world where trust in institutions is decreasing day by day. However, we need trustworthy institutions to promote peace and prosperity in society. I believe VALR will become such an institution and we are taking all appropriate steps to get there.
Next year we will be hosting a very special event in Cape Town, South Africa. It will be unique and impactful. We hope to see many of our Asian partners and communities there. That way, together we can connect different continents, open new markets and build a better world.
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Disclosure of vested interests: This author is an independent contributor and publishes through us.
