ETP issuer Valour eyes African market with Bitcoin, Ethereum products

Valour plans to bring its crypto exchange-traded products to more investors in Africa, in response to a major agreement with the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Initial support will be for crypto ETPs for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) and Hedera (HBAR)., Valour noted in a press release on Aug. 6

Valour, a subsidiary of financial technology firm DeFi Technologies, revealed that these plans follow a Memorandum of Understanding with the NSE. The firm is also partnering with liquidity and capital solutions provider SovFi.

Per the ETP issuer, NSE and SovFi will help in the creation, issuance, and trading of Valour ETPs in Africa. The Nairobi-based stock exchange will onboard Valour as an issuer. The partners will leverage SovFis expertise for blockchain integration as well as for distribution channels and financial instruments.

Why is this important？

Africa is one of the top emerging markets in the crypto space, with Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa among countries with the highest number of crypto users.

Valours expansion allows it to passport its ETPs to the NSE, bringing the opportunities available across the crypto market to local investors.

In this case, NSE traders can gain exposure to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether through the crypto products. The ETPs mean they will do so through their regular brokerage accounts. Benefits also include institutional-grade custody.

“By leveraging our expertise in issuing innovative ETPs and facilitating the passporting of our financial instruments to the NSE, we aim to provide investors with secure and regulated exposure to the dynamic world of digital assets,” Olivier Roussy Newton, chief executive officer of DeFi Technologies said in a statement.

Bitcoin, Ethereum among initial ETPs

Valour targets expansion in the African market starting with some of the top crypto ETPs in the market. According to the platform, initial launches will include exchange-traded products on BTC, ETH, SOL, and HBAR.

With further development of market infrastructure, more investors across the continent could have access to more products. The companies will also eye the tokenized finance and real-world assets markets.

Valour offers its ETPs to both retail and institutional investors and its products include ETPS on Uniswap, Solana, Cardano and XRP among others. Recently, the platform launched the Valour Near (NEAR) ETP.

The investment products trade on stock exchanges such as Frankfurt, Euronext, and Spotlight Stock Market in Sweden.