Johannesburg, South Africa, August 25, 2026, Chainwire — VALR, Africa’s leading crypto exchange and infrastructure provider, has announced the launch of Borrow, a new product that allows users to free up funds by using their crypto holdings as collateral without selling their assets.

Borrow is designed for both everyday crypto investors and corporate clients. The product offers a fast and flexible way to take out a loan against holdings such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and other crypto assets. By using crypto to secure a loan rather than selling it, users retain ownership of their assets and remain positioned for potential price growth. Once borrowing is completed, funds are instantly credited to the user’s VALR account and can be traded across VALR’s markets, converted to fiat currency, withdrawn, or spent with VALR Pay.

According to VALR, the borrowing process is fully automated and supported by the company’s institutional security standards and custody solutions. The product requires no credit checks or traditional paperwork. Loan limits are calculated based on the value of the crypto selected as collateral and the risk profile of the asset. Users have no fixed repayment schedules or early settlement fees, and may repay at their own pace or adjust collateral as market conditions change.

“Our goal with Borrow is simple: to give our users quick access to funds whenever they need them, without forcing them to sell the crypto they believe in,” said Badi Sudhakaran, Chief Product Officer at VALR. “Whether you need funds to cover a short-term everyday expense, capture a new investment or yield opportunity, or manage business liquidity, Borrow provides a seamless bridge between long-term crypto asset ownership and immediate financial flexibility.”

The launch of Borrow expands VALR’s product suite, which already includes simple swaps, spot and margin trading, perpetual futures, staking, lending, VALR Pay, and OTC services.

Crypto-backed lending was popularised in the previous market cycle by standalone lenders such as Celsius Network and BlockFi, both of which halted withdrawals and filed for bankruptcy in 2022 amid a wave of industry collapses that froze customer assets and drew scrutiny of custody and disclosure practices. Major exchanges including Binance and Kraken now offer comparable loan products, and Borrow brings the same model to a region where Nigeria placed first in Chainalysis’s 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index, underscoring the depth of crypto ownership across African markets.

To learn more or start borrowing, visit

ABOUT VALR

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Johannesburg, VALR is backed by investors including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital. The company offers a range of products that includes Spot Trading, Spot Margin, Perpetual Futures, Staking, Lending, Borrowing, OTC services, VALR Invest, Crypto Bundles, and VALR Pay.

VALR is licensed by South Africa’s FSCA and holds a provisional license from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. The FSCA declared crypto assets to be financial products under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act in October 2022 and began issuing crypto asset service provider licences in 2023, and credit services such as Borrow sit under separate oversight through the National Credit Regulator, which registers credit providers under South Africa’s National Credit Act. The company says it serves more than 1.9 million registered users and 1,900 corporate and institutional clients worldwide.

VALR says it is dedicated to advancing a just financial future that upholds human dignity and the unity of mankind.

For more information, visit valr.com.

Risk Disclaimer

Trading or investing in crypto assets is risky and may result in the loss of capital as the value may fluctuate. VALR (Pty) Ltd is a licensed financial services provider (FSP #53308).

Borrowing crypto assets involves risk. Depending on market movements and your obligations under the applicable borrowing arrangements, you may incur losses and could lose some or all of the crypto assets or fiat currency provided as collateral. Borrowing services are provided by VALR Loans (Pty) Ltd (Registration Number 2020/658530/07 and NCR registration number NCRCP15447).

Please refer to VALR’s Risk Disclosures and Earn Terms of Service.

VALR press@valr.com

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