Valax entering the world of cryptocurrencies

Among the important parts of the fintech ecosystem are: Startup He mentioned those who work in the field of cryptocurrencies. Some of these startups are trying to play an effective role in the country’s economic cycle by focusing on creating an online trading platform for digital currencies, although sometimes they face contradictions from the government’s point of view that make it difficult for them to operate. Among the startups active in the field of buying and selling digital currencies, Valx can be mentioned. On the sidelines of Al-Comp 98, we went to Bardia Seyed Ahmad Nia, the co-founder of the Valx startup, and we had a conversation that we invite you to read.

Introduce yourself and tell about Valax.

My name is Berdia Sidahmadnia, marketing manager and co-founder of Valex, a graduate of the Sharif University of Technology in the field of industry, and I am currently studying for an MBA, and I joined the Valex startup in June 2017.

In July 1997, Valx started working in the Tivan Entrepreneurship Club located in the Energy Research Institute of Sharif University of Technology, and in December 1997, the site was launched. Wallex Bitcoin market and other digital currencies in which people trade on a user-to-user basis, such as the stock market. In Valex, people can register an order at their desired price and start buying and selling.

The point that distinguishes Valex from the previous exchanges in the field of digital currencies is the possibility of registering the desired bitcoin price of users to register the purchase and sale of Bitcoin, and in a way, Valex is a digital currency exchange market.

What was the purpose of Valax?

We used to trade bitcoins in foreign markets. One of the reasons for our withdrawal from Binance was the sanctions, on the other hand, a number of people were committing fraud and depositing stolen money with fake documents in virtual spaces, especially on Telegram, as well as the extremely high buying and selling prices of the exchanges that provided prices on their own. It was much higher or lower than the world price and it was not profitable for us at all. These problems made us think of creating a safe reference for buying and selling Bitcoin and other digital currencies in Iran.

Did you attract capital?

Yes, we have already attracted a round of investors. We proceeded in the form of bootstrap until we attracted capital, but after attracting users, we attracted capital because at that time, in addition to the financial issue, we needed spiritual support and support in this area.

In buying and selling Bitcoin, both the buyer and the seller must be Valex members?

Yes, both parties must have a user account and perform full authentication, because one of the main characteristics of Valex is to create a safe space for buying and selling Bitcoin, and the background for this is to have a full authentication system.

What guarantee do you have for transferring bitcoins to accounts?

Our guarantee is our credit; We have been active in the market for 8 months. But another point is that the person who places an order must have already deposited bitcoins and also the person who intends to buy bitcoins must have charged his rial account.

And our commitment to our users is to deposit rials in less than 12 hours and deposit bitcoins in less than half an hour. Valex has come to organize the cryptocurrency space of Iran and we will definitely get closer to our goal day by day.

What is the number of Valex users at the moment?

Currently, 9,500 users have registered in Valx, and 5,000 of them have completed full authentication, and nearly 3,500 active users are working on the Valx platform.

What challenges did you face along the way?

The lack of clear legislation in the field of cryptocurrency and in general in any industry is an obstacle to the flow, and in the field of digital currencies, unfortunately, we still do not have a law; Only one draft was presented by the central bank last year, which allowed people to trade, but all the responsibility of trust was placed on the shoulders of the user. On the other hand, there is also the issue of authentication; Because if issues like one-time password provision are solved for good, a lot of scams will disappear.

How do you see the fintech industry?

Iran’s fintech industry is separate from the rest of the world; Because everywhere in the world they have Mastercard, Visa card, credit card, etc., but there is none of these in Iran, and we have made everything that exists, and there is still a lot of room for improvement, and the field of digital currencies and blockchain is also an emerging field in the world. And if we can move faster in this field, we can create a good place for ourselves in the world.

What startups are your competitors and what percentage of the market share do you hold?

Our competitors are basically our colleagues; Three startups, Elixir, Nobitex, and Valex, are active in the field of digital currency trading, and we intend to legalize platform exchanges in Iran, and that is why we are partners in this field, because the higher the number, the better the result. Elixir and Nobitex entered the market 8 months before us, but according to our analysis, their turnover is almost the same, and now we are together to fix the country’s cryptocurrency space.

What are your plans for product development?

We intend to create a currency pair transaction and add other digital currencies; In this type of transaction, you use digital currency instead of Rial. Among other programs is the provision of a mobile application that will be unveiled soon so that users can easily trade digital currencies with their phones.

What is your source of income?

It is in the form of a fee, and its amount is 0.5%, and depending on the volume of the transaction, it can be reduced to 0.25%, that is, if I want to express it in a very general way, you have to give us a fee of 2500 Tomans for every 1 million Tomans.

And the final word

Currently, the cryptocurrency space in Iran is very vague and many people are abusing this space, in such a way that people start buying and selling bitcoins and other digital currencies in the virtual space, especially Telegram, and there is no trust and confidence in They do not have a completed transaction.

If we can speed up the implementation of laws in the field of digital currencies, we will be able to introduce trading platforms like Valex, which is a safe place for people to trade digital currencies, and secondly, we will be able to prevent many frauds that we see in cyberspace today.

Valx has tried to provide a safe and reliable environment for users who intend to buy and sell Bitcoin and other digital currencies with all the difficulties of financial work, especially cryptocurrency in Iran.