Ability to trade currency pairs in Valex exchange

Some time ago on the sidelines of Elcamp 98 Startup Wallex We went and had a friendly chat with Bardia Seyed Ahmadnia about Valex’s activity in Iran’s fintech industry and cryptocurrencies. In those days, this startup had about 9,500 users, which grew by more than 40% in this short period of time, and currently has more than 14,000 users. Now, after several months passed and under the pretext of introducing the new features of this startup, we went to them again and had an interview with Amin Amini, one of the founders of Valx, which we invite you to read.

First, introduce yourself and tell us how Valax was formed.

My name is Amin Amini, born in 1375 and entering the 93rd year of industrial engineering at Sharif University of Technology. I, along with two of my friends, have been introduced to the field of cryptocurrency and blockchain in the last few years.

At that time, one of my friends was using PayPal because he received a project from abroad, which sometimes became troublesome for him. Our friend with searches in this field, with Bitcoin And he got to know the financial payment methods through digital currencies and we also got to know this market through him.

At that time, there was no digital currency trading platform in Iran and it was not easy for people to receive money from abroad. After getting to know the field of cryptocurrency, we started to Buy and sell bitcoins We did, but this brought with it issues, such as the fact that at that time there was still no reliable user-to-user market for trading.

To buy and sell digital currencies, there were only a few exchanges that did the work of buying and selling and often gave a price in this transaction for their own benefit; Another way was buying and selling online, which still has its audience, but the possibility of fraud in this method is very high; The third method was to use foreign sites, which also brought many problems, the smallest of which was the closing of Iranian user accounts.

On the other hand, none of the exchanges provided support, user design and good services to their customers. For this reason, we set out to solve our own needs so that other people’s problems can also be solved.

In this regard, we launched Valex trading market in November 2017. A market where buying and selling is done by users and for this reason the price difference on the platform is very low. In Valux, all users are authenticated, and there will be no more worries about fraud, because we are fully responsible for it. Valex site has very strong support so that in a day, we have about 18-19 hours of support.

What words is the name Valax a combination of?

Combination of wallet and exchange

Currently, Valex has a few users, and has the presence of this type of platform affected the price of exchanges?

Valex currently has more than 14,000 users and more than 50,000 secure transactions have been made within the platform. price difference Buy Bitcoin And its sale in Wallex is between 300 thousand tomans and one million for each bitcoin. The presence of platforms like Valex has reduced the power of exchanges and made the prices more balanced.

On what basis is the difference between the buying and selling prices determined?

This price is determined by users and is based on supply and demand; But if the market reaches an unfavorable situation, we try to monitor it and manage the market. In case of market manipulation, through our access to foreign accounts, we enter the prices traded there with an algorithm into Valex, and the same price similarity makes a person’s transaction similar to the foreign site, with the difference that he no longer worries about the account being closed and blocked. Making money and filtering are not.

Is it possible for you to have a problem in the meantime?

no The Valex account, which exists in various exchanges around the world, is one of the verified and fully authenticated accounts, and there is no reason for us to worry.

Valex has recently taken actions in the field of currency pairs; Explain a little about this.

A new feature we added to Valx, Convert currencies to each other Is; We had the experience of working with foreign sites that gave us a lot of trouble, that’s why we decided to prepare the same platform in Valx so that people who want to trade professionally can exchange different currencies together on one platform. Of course, this Valex feature was added about three weeks ago, and in the future we will see more digital currencies and the expansion of this market.

We chose the Tether market base to start with in the “currency to currency” market, and the reason for this is that Tether is a currency equivalent to the dollar, and professionals want it to sell their bitcoins or other digital currencies. convert to dollars or Tether, and also this market has a fee of 0.2% per transaction, which is much lower than the fees of the Riyal market to other digital currencies.

Is the foreign exchange market welcomed?

We are still in the process of building a complete and comprehensive advertising plan for it, which is not yet fully implemented. However, it is highly appreciated during special times such as pump (sudden increase in the price of Bitcoin) and dump (sudden decrease in the price of Bitcoin), because people instantly convert their coins into Tether or the same. They make dollars or vice versa.

Considering the lack of law in the field of digital currencies, what risks does Valex face?

In Iran, these risks are usually created for new industries. Businesses such as Alibaba, Snap, Tapsi, and Yar Payment faced filtering; This process is a normal process in Iran, with the difference that maybe this process is a little more difficult in our area and the legislative process may need more time. Considering the trend that has been created in other countries, it can be concluded that in the next few years, digital currency will replace foreign currency, so it cannot be countered. It is possible to frame it, but it cannot be stopped; Because if you stop those underground activities, it will multiply and cause more damage to the country, and on the other hand, there should be a valid reference for users so that they don’t face fraud.

Have you ever received help from an investor or an accelerator?

Yes, we have an investor named Ideparzaan Mashiz and we are currently based in Tivan co-working space.

What is the main composition of your team?

When we started, all the people were founders and were in charge of various fields such as executive work, financial management, marketing management, technical management, blockchain technical management, etc. Currently, our team has reached 15 people, of which 4 people are in the support section.

What was the story behind the recent rumor about the Valex scam?

Before markets like Valex, there were exchanges that traded at very high profits. After the arrival of the platforms, the profit and the number of users of the exchanges decreased because the users found a safer environment with a better user interface for trading. On the other hand, the exchanges were not able to deal with the platforms from a scientific, managerial and technical point of view, and for this reason, they started spreading rumors, which in practice started with specialized forums such as digital currency and Persian Tools. Of course, because they didn’t have any document for these rumors, all the news was deleted; Because only by having a document, they could refer their complaint to the FATA police. The only news that hasn’t been deleted yet is related to the blog.ir website, which despite following up with the FATA police, we still did not receive an answer and even went to their office, but no one was there.

What is Valex marketing system like?

We have started our activity in the content part through Google only 3 months ago, and at first we entered spaces for advertising where we knew there was a specific audience, such as Telegram groups, forums, etc., and we did not enter public spaces. We are still doing advertisements on different sites of blockchain and telegram homeland. A large number of users got to know Valex through introduction; Because for inviting friends, the user’s fee is reduced or he receives a free deal, a large part of users have been attracted to Valax in this way. On the other hand, due to the satisfaction that users had with us, we were introduced to their friends, and this caused us to incur a small cost in advertising.

What are your plans for Valex development?

Our strategy in the field of cryptocurrency inside Iran is divided into 3 parts; First, there is a safe and convenient market for people to invest, to which we are going to add other features such as coin-to-coin capability, stop limit, etc., and in a few months, the Valx application will be launched, and for those who intend to trade professionally If they have E, this path is easily possible with the application. The second part is to expand crypto and blockchain in Iran. In this regard, we have designed a site called wallexacademy, which produces content in the form of podcasts and videos. The third part of our strategy is to build a crypto-economy so that people can use digital currency; That is, we produce products based on crypto.

We are building a payment gateway called WallPay and since we provide all users with a dedicated wallet, people who are transacting overseas can use it now. One of the products we are planning to produce is a digital currency payment gateway for freelancers who intend to trade abroad; Through this portal, freelancers can earn with crypto.

Have you ever faced risks such as tax risks?

Dealing with tax issues requires the existence of laws in the field of payment, and since the laws have not yet been formed, entering into this process becomes complicated. Businesses such as Kafe Bazaar, Snap, Tapsi, etc. have also encountered these problems, and these problems often occur in Iran because there are no laws and supportive vision.

What part of the market do you hold and what share do you estimate for yourself in the future?

According to the published statistics, at least 400 bitcoins are being traded in Iran every day, some of which are done online or in person, and with these conditions, we have 2.5% of the market in our hands, and in the future we plan to have more people. to attract to Valx for trading, for which we use various advertising methods. Our goal for the next year is to reach 8-10% of the market.

How many sites are there similar to yours?

Currently, there are two sites named Nobitex and Elixir, which were launched about a year earlier than us, but we are completely ahead of one of them in terms of the features that Valex has, and we are equal to the other, if not ahead, because we are about a year We launched our site later.

What is the income model of Valex?

Valex charges a maximum of half a percent and a minimum of 0.25 percent for each transaction, and the higher the volume of the transaction, the higher the fee will be.

When did you start fundraising?

We first started our work as a bootstrap, that is, until May of this year; But we have since received a Series A round of funding. Currently, we need more capital to develop programs, but we do not intend to attract capital for the next year.

How do you see the future of Valax?

I think that Valex will revolutionize the payment industry in the next three years, especially foreign currency payments for tourists, and will also become a suitable platform for people who trade professionally, eliminating the need for external sites. Also, if needed, we enter the market of other countries.