VALR pioneers xStocks in South Africa - Chainwire
Africa’s largest crypto exchange becomes the first platform on the continent to introduce tokenised U.S. equities trading.
VALR, Africa’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, today announced the launch of xStocks on its platform. This offering enables customers to gain price exposure through tokenisation of leading U.S.-listed equities, including Tesla, NVIDIA, Robinhood, Circle, and Coinbase. With this move, VALR becomes the first crypto exchange in the region to offer tokenised equities, marking a significant step towards financial inclusion and simplified investment opportunities across Africa.
xStocks, launched by Backed in May 2025, are 1:1-backed tokenised representations of U.S.-listed equities and ETFs, providing price exposure to token holders. However, the xStocks tokens do not confer ownership rights, voting rights or other shareholder rights and privileges to token holders. These tokens can be traded on VALR’s Spot market against TetherUSD (USDT) or against other crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, or even the South African rand, via the Simple Buy/Sell terminal. Additionally, xStocks can be deposited and withdrawn via the Solana network, ensuring seamless and efficient transactions across the crypto ecosystem.
This launch reflects a growing global trend of tokenising real-world assets, further bridging the gap between traditional finance and the crypto economy. By offering xStocks, VALR empowers its users to diversify their portfolios with price exposure to some of the world’s most prominent companies, fostering greater access to global markets and simplifying investment strategies.
