Luno

Type of site

| bitcoin
Available in| 40 countries
Founded| 2013
Headquarters| London
Products| bitcoin exchange, bitcoin wallet service and bitcoin API.
Website| www.luno.com
Users| 3.5 million

LUNO (formerly BitX[1]) is a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in London[2][3][4]

Luno facilitates bitcoin and cryptocurrency storage and transactions such as buying, selling and paying through their wallet services. They also operate exchanges between traditional currencies and bitcoin.[5]

## History

Luno was founded in 2013 and the exchange was set up by Timothy Stranex and Marcus Swanepoel, who are now CTO and CEO respectively.[6] Stranex is a BSc graduate from the University of Cape Town. He began his career as a software engineer at Google in Switzerland. He worked on Google Maps during his four years at the company, while also completing an MSc in theoretical physics from the University of Zürich.[7]

A South African company was one of Luno's earliest clients. The company established its operations in Cape Town to accommodate the client, and quickly grew from there. “[However], we quickly realised two things: one, the banks were going to be moving very slow in this space; and two, there was a lot of misconceptions around what the technology could or could not do."[8]

Luno and PayFast facilitated one of the first crypto-currency integrations into a payment processor in the world.[9]

In 2016, Luno took part in the FCA Sandbox programme. This allows businesses to test financial products with regulatory supervision.[10]

In September 2017, Luno raised $9 million in order to introduce its bitcoin wallet, exchange and services in Europe.[11]

Since November 2017, Luno has also supported ethereum.[12]

At the start of 2018, Luno announced they had reached nearly 2 million customers and processed over $5 billion.[8] In May of 2020, they announced that this had reached 4 million customers.[13] They are pro-regulation.[14]

In April 2018, Luno registered with the bank Negara Malaysia as a reporting body for the digital currencies.[15]

In March 2020, Luno added XRP to their exchange, citing customer demand for the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap as the reason for the listing.[citation needed] In May, Luno added Litecoin to their exchange. [16]

## References

1. ↑ Colleen Goko (11 Jan 2017). "SA-founded bitcoin company BitX rebranded as Luno" (in en-US). https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/financial-services/2017-01-11-sa-founded-bitcoin-company-bitx-rebranded-as-luno/.
2. ↑ Jackson, Tom (10 March 2015). "Could Bitcoin ease the pain of Africa's migrant workforce?". BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-31735976/. Retrieved 22 Oct 2018.
3. ↑ "Bitcoin for the poor". The Economist. 11 June 2014. https://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2014/06/cash-transfers-africa. Retrieved 22 Oct 2018.
4. ↑ "Fees & Features". https://www.luno.com/en/countries. Retrieved 22 Oct 2018.
5. ↑ Realini, Carol (14 July 2015). Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid. FriesenPress. p. 188. ISBN 9781460265529.
6. ↑ "Countries come together in hope of creating cryptocurrency backed by central banks". January 21, 2020. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/cryptocurrency-bank-of-england-digital-currency-a9295136.html.
7. ↑ Nafisa Akabor (14 Jun 2018). "ENTREPRENEUR: Co-founder of SA’s first bitcoin wallet Timothy Stranex" (in en-US). https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/fm-fox/2018-06-14-entrepreneur-co-founder-of-sas-first-bitcoin-wallet-timothy-stranex/.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 James de Villiers (28 May 2018). "Every day R60 million flows through this cryptocurrency wallet – based in Cape Town". https://www.businessinsider.co.za/everyday-r60-million-flows-through-this-cryptocurrency-wallet-based-in-cape-town-2018-5.
9. ↑ Eaton, Jessica (17 Jul 2014). "South Africa’s PayFast Incorporates Bitcoin as Payment Option". Wall Street Journal. https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/07/17/south-africas-payfast-incorporates-bitcoin-as-payment-option/. (Subscription content?)
10. ↑ "Regulatory sandbox" (in en). FCA. 2016-05-04. https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/regulatory-sandbox.
11. ↑ Jon Russell (19 Sep 2017). "Luno raises $9M to bring its bitcoin wallet, exchange and services to Europe – TechCrunch" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/19/luno-raises-9m-bitcoin/.
12. ↑ "Luno now supports Ethereum in South Africa" (in en-US). https://businesstech.co.za/news/technology/209819/luno-now-supports-ethereum-in-south-africa/.
13. ↑ "Cryptocurrency platform Luno reaches over 4 million users". May 13, 2020. https://ventureburn.com/2020/05/luno-reaches-over-4-million-users/.
14. ↑ Moyo, ITWeb, Admire (2018-02-14). "Bring on regulation, say SA fintech players" (in en-ZA). ITWeb. https://www.itweb.co.za/content/WnpNgM2AxXO7VrGd.
15. ↑ "Luno registers with Bank Negara as reporting body for digital currencies - Business News | The Star Online". https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/04/11/luno-registers-with-bank-negara-as-reporting-body-for-digital-currencies/.
16. ↑ Africa, Ventures (April 29, 2020). "Prepare for lift-off: Luno launches Litecoin on its platform". http://venturesafrica.com/prepare-for-lift-off-luno-launches-litecoin-on-its-platform/.

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