London-based cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service platform, Luno has today announced its acquisition by Digital Currency Group (DCG), a global venture capital enterprise which heavily invests in blockchain-based companies.
Although the acquisition fee remains undisclosed, Luno has stated that it will continue to run independently, keeping and building on the incredible culture it already has.
Having first invested in Luno during its seed round in 2014, DCG Founder and CEO Barry Silbert said:
“We are proud to have supported Luno as an early investor, and we recognize a shared commitment to building mission-driven companies that can help transform traditional financial services and improve economic freedom for people all over the world.”
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“Luno is a high growth, global business and there is a massive opportunity to expand organically and through acquisitions,” he added.
With an international presence spanning over 40 countries including South Africa and Nigeria, Luno claims to have successfully processed more than $14 billion dollars in transactions since its inception in 2012.
The crypto company has grown to become a digital currency powerhouse over the years, adding over 550,000 new users on its platform in Q2 2020 in Africa alone and offering crypto trading services to more than 5 million global customers.
What to Know About Luno
Luno was founded in 2012 by Marcus Swanepoel, Timothy Stranex, Francois Paul and Carel van Wyk.
Formerly known as BitX, Luno is an international cryptocurrency trading company which offers a digital blockchain-based gateway for users to buy/sell Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Litecoin (LTC).
While there are no buying/ selling transaction limits on the platform, users are charged an equivalent transaction fee on total trading volume per month. Luno also provides a wallet service for users to save cryptocurrency and charges a fee on every withdrawal or deposit transaction.
In Nigeria, acceptable payment methods on the platform are through bank transfers and debit/credit cards. Deposits can be made using payment platforms i.e Flutterwave, Paystack and PayU using credit/debit cards or bank transfer but withdrawals can only be made via bank transfer.
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Despite having its headquarters in London, Luno is focused on developing countries which have proven to be the biggest traders of cryptocurrency.
This includes South Africa and Nigeria, the lead adopters of crypto in Africa. Recent statistics show that Nigeria currently leads Africa in peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions. Nigeria is closely followed by South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.
Luno Plans to Reach 13% of World Population
Speaking on the acquisition, Luno CEO Marcus Swanepoel said:
“What does this mean for Luno? In short, it will enable us to reach our target of upgrading 1 billion people to a better financial system by 2030, a target we set for ourselves a few years ago, faster and better than if we did it completely on our own.”
According to Marcus, current and prospective Luno customers should expect certain exciting additions on the platform going forward, as the company has strengthened its bid to provide digital currency solutions to more than one-tenth of the entire world population.
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