Luno Eliminates 20% of Global Workforce as Automation Changes Crypto Exchange Priorities
Cryptocurrency exchange Luno is reducing its global workforce by 20%, marking the second major job cut in three and a half years. CEO James Lanigan announced the move on July 28, attributing it to a cyclical slump in retail crypto activity and ongoing investments in automated tools that have fundamentally altered the company’s resource requirements.
Luno, headquartered in London and operating across Africa and Asia, is owned by U.S.-based Digital Currency Group. The exact number of affected employees—including those in South Africa—has not been disclosed. In South Africa, where Luno was founded in 2013, the company has initiated formal consultations under Section 189 of the country’s Labour Relations Act.
Alongside the headcount reduction, Luno is reorganizing its operations into three distinct units built on a single core platform. The first combines its consumer platform, serving over 16 million users across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, with a business-to-business API integration that lets institutional partners offer white-labeled crypto trading, custody, and compliance services using Luno’s backend. The second unit focuses on local-currency stablecoin solutions in emerging markets, centered on Zaru, a rand-backed stablecoin launched in February 2026 to enable 24/7 same-day settlement at low costs. The third unit is an institutional arm providing an over-the-counter desk for high-volume asset conversions and cross-border currency settlement networks.
Luno also plans to exit non-core markets, notifying users in select regions that services will cease as of September 1, 2026. Account deposits and purchasing were disabled on June 1, with customers given until August 31 to liquidate holdings and withdraw funds to local bank accounts.
The layoffs come after a 35% workforce reduction in January 2023, when Luno employed about 960 people. Lanigan described the decision as difficult but necessary to build a sustainable and focused structure for the long term.