Luno

Luno is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange and digital asset platform founded in 2013 under the original name BitX. Headquartered in London, with offices in Cape Town and Singapore, the company rebranded to Luno in 2017 and has since grown to serve more than 15 million customers across over 40 countries. Its stated philosophy — "a responsible approach to crypto" — shapes a product built around simplicity, regulatory compliance, and security rather than high-risk trading instruments.

Origins and Ownership

Luno was co-founded by Marcus Swanepoel, a former investment banker, and Timothy Stranex, an ex-Google software engineer, alongside Carel van Wyk and Pieter Heyns. The project attracted early backing from South African media and technology conglomerate Naspers (now Prosus), which invested USD 3 million in 2015, and from Digital Currency Group (DCG), which first invested in the seed round in 2014 before completing a full acquisition of the company in September 2020. Luno continues to operate as an independent wholly owned subsidiary of DCG. Marcus Swanepoel departed at the end of 2023 to found a separate venture; James Lanigan serves as Chief Executive Officer as of 2026. The company employs approximately 716 people globally.

How the Platform Works

Luno provides several distinct product layers suited to different user types.

The core exchange supports spot trading across around 27 cryptocurrencies and 76 trading pairs. The interface offers a simplified buy/sell flow for newcomers alongside a professional trading interface with TradingView chart integration and more than 100 technical indicators. There are no futures, margin, or leverage products; Luno has deliberately limited itself to spot markets, which aligns with its risk-conservative positioning.

A built-in dollar-cost averaging (DCA) tool allows users to set up recurring purchases of a single asset or a mix of assets, supporting disciplined long-term accumulation. Investment bundles let users allocate to a basket of multiple cryptocurrencies in a single transaction, reducing the friction of managing individual positions.

The Earn product, available in select markets, offers yield on digital assets. As of April 2026, Luno advertises up to 7% annual yield on USDC through this product. Crypto staking is available but geographically restricted, primarily to customers in Malaysia and South Africa.

Prediction Markets, launched for customers in South Africa and Nigeria, allow users to take directional views on price events and receive payouts in USDC if correct. The Payments feature, available in certain markets, enables users to pay for everyday goods such as groceries and fuel directly from their crypto balance via QR code.

For institutional and sophisticated clients, Luno offers over-the-counter (OTC) trading and API access for algorithmic integrations.

Supported Assets

The platform lists approximately 27 rigorously assessed cryptocurrencies. Core assets include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP, Litecoin (LTC), Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), Polygon (MATIC/POL), Chainlink (LINK), Uniswap (UNI), and USDC. Luno added Solana and Cardano to its platform in October 2022. In addition to spot cryptocurrencies, the platform has more recently begun listing tokenized real-world assets including equities and a stablecoin backed by a South African issuer.

The range of available assets and features varies by country. Not all products are accessible from every market, and Luno does not operate in the United States.

Solana on Luno

SOL was added to the Luno platform on October 6, 2022, making it available for purchase, sale, custody, and trading alongside other listed assets. Users can hold SOL in their Luno wallet and access trading pairs that include SOL. The Solana network is supported for external transfers, meaning users can deposit or withdraw SOL using native Solana network addresses. Luno does not deploy on-chain programs on Solana — the platform interacts with the Solana blockchain purely as a custodian and exchange venue rather than as a decentralized application.

Geographic Focus and Regulatory Licenses

Luno has a strong orientation toward emerging markets, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. South Africa, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia represent core markets; the platform is also licensed and active in the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

Regulatory licenses held by Luno include registration with AUSTRAC in Australia, authorization from the AMF in France, licensing from Bappebti in Indonesia, supervision by the Securities Commission in Malaysia, and authorization from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa — a license received in April 2024, making Luno among the first crypto exchanges to be fully authorized under South Africa's crypto asset framework.

Security Model

Luno stores approximately 95% of all customer cryptocurrency in cold storage — what the company terms "Deep Freeze" wallets — which require multiple human authorizations before funds can be moved. The remaining assets held in hot wallets for operational liquidity represent a small fraction of total holdings. The platform implements two-factor authentication (2FA), multi-biometric authentication on mobile devices, and Proof of Reserves attestations confirming 1:1 backing of customer balances.

Luno conducts monthly security audits and maintains a bug bounty program that rewards researchers with up to USD 7,500 for valid vulnerability disclosures. Since its founding in 2013, the platform has not suffered a major security breach or customer fund loss — a track record spanning over thirteen years of operation across multiple continents.

Ecosystem Fit

Luno is not a Solana-native application and does not deploy smart contracts on the Solana blockchain. Its relevance to the Solana ecosystem is as a fiat onramp and custodial venue: for millions of users in South Africa, Nigeria, Malaysia, and other emerging markets, Luno is a primary or exclusive access point for purchasing and holding SOL. The platform's geographic emphasis on underserved markets where decentralized alternatives face regulatory or UX friction makes it a practical entry point for users who may eventually migrate assets to self-custodial Solana wallets or interact with Solana DeFi. The Solana network's transfer support means Luno connects to on-chain Solana directly rather than through a wrapped or synthetic intermediary.