Luno (company)

LUNO (formerly BitX[1]) is a bitcoin-related company headquartered in London[2][3][4]

Luno
Type of site
bitcoin
Available in40 countries
Founded2013
HeadquartersLondon
Productsbitcoin exchange, bitcoin wallet service and bitcoin API.
URLwww.luno.com
Users3.5 million

Luno facilitates bitcoin storage and transactions such as buying, selling and paying through their bitcoin 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. 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.[6]

A South African company was one of the 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."[7]

Luno and PayFast facilitated one of the first crypto-currency integrations into a payment processor in the world.[8]

In 2016, Luno took part in the FCA Sandbox programme. This allows businesses to test financial products with regulatory supervision.[9]

In September 2017, Luno raised $9 million in order to introduce its bitcoin wallet, exchange and services in Europe.[10]

Since November 2017, Luno has also supported ethereum.[11]

At the start of 2018, Luno announced they had reached nearly 2 million customers and processed over $5 billion.[7] They are pro-regulation.[12]

In April 2018, Luno registered with the bank Negara Malaysia as a reporting body for the digital currencies.[13]

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.[14]

References
  1. Colleen Goko (11 Jan 2017). "SA-founded bitcoin company BitX rebranded as Luno". BusinessDay. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  2. Jackson, Tom (10 March 2015). "Could Bitcoin ease the pain of Africa's migrant workforce?". BBC. Retrieved 22 Oct 2018.
  3. "Bitcoin for the poor". The Economist. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 Oct 2018.
  4. "Fees & Features". Luno. Retrieved 22 Oct 2018.
  5. Realini, Carol (14 July 2015). Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid. FriesenPress. p. 188. ISBN 9781460265529.
  6. Nafisa Akabor (14 Jun 2018). "ENTREPRENEUR: Co-founder of SA's first bitcoin wallet Timothy Stranex". FinancialMail. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  7. James de Villiers (28 May 2018). "Every day R60 million flows through this cryptocurrency wallet – based in Cape Town". www.businessinsider.co.za. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  8. Eaton, Jessica (17 Jul 2014). "South Africa's PayFast Incorporates Bitcoin as Payment Option". Wall Street Journal.(subscription required)
  9. "Regulatory sandbox". FCA. 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  10. Jon Russell (19 Sep 2017). "Luno raises $9M to bring its bitcoin wallet, exchange and services to Europe – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  11. "Luno now supports Ethereum in South Africa". Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  12. Moyo, ITWeb, Admire (2018-02-14). "Bring on regulation, say SA fintech players". ITWeb. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  13. "Luno registers with Bank Negara as reporting body for digital currencies - Business News | The Star Online". The Star Online. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  14. "XRP Arrives on Luno". Luno.com. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
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