Digital Currency Group (DCG), a global enterprise that builds, buys, and invests in blockchain companies, has acquired Luno, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, based in London and with regional hubs in Singapore and Cape Town. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In recent years, Luno has grown significantly, with nearly 400 employees and more than five million global customers spanning over 40 countries.
Led by co-founder and CEO Marcus Swanepoel, Luno has seen record growth of its customer base in 2020. Luno is a leading exchange in several countries that have the highest percentage of cryptocurrency ownership, including South Africa (third-highest percentage of its citizens owning digital currencies), Nigeria (fifth-highest), Indonesia (sixth-highest), and Malaysia (tenth-highest).
DCG is an investment firm that has backed more than 160 blockchain companies around the world. DCG first invested in Luno in its seed round in 2014.
“Luno is a high growth, global business and there is a massive opportunity to expand organically and through acquisitions. We are proud to have supported Luno as an early investor,” said DCG Founder and CEO Barry Silbert.
“Luno aims to upgrade 1 billion people to a better financial system by 2030,” says Swanepoel.
“We have been extremely impressed with Marcus and the Luno team since we made our initial investment,” added Silbert. “Marcus understands our culture and appreciates how well Luno fits into the DCG family. He is a focused, high integrity leader and exactly the kind of person we want running one of our companies at this critical moment when the crypto industry is at an inflection point.”
Founded in 2013, Luno has been backed by global tech giant the Naspers Group and Balderton Capital amongst others. During these last seven years, Luno has maintained its commitment to upgrading the world to a better financial system. The company believes that the legacy system was built for a non-digital age, ignoring the needs of modern individuals and adding unnecessary inefficiencies and gatekeepers.
