Luno to Cut 20% of Workforce in Strategic Pivot Toward Institutional Business
Key Takeaways
- •Luno is cutting approximately 20% of its global workforce as part of a restructuring led by CEO James Lanigan to lower costs and reposition the business.
- •The company was the first dedicated crypto service to receive a South African Financial Services Provider license under the FAIS Act.
- •Luno is expanding its white-label infrastructure business, enabling partners such as Discovery Bank to offer crypto services using Luno's liquidity, wallet, and compliance capabilities.
- •The exchange is a founding participant in ZARU, a South African Rand-backed stablecoin initiative alongside partners including Sanlam, Lesaka Technologies, and EasyEquities.
- •The restructuring reflects a broader industry trend where major exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken are shifting toward institutional and infrastructure revenue amid declining retail trading volumes.
Luno, a leading South African-founded cryptocurrency exchange owned by Digital Currency Group, is reducing its global workforce by approximately 20% as part of a broader business restructuring, Chief Executive Officer James Lanigan announced.
The reorganization will see the company expand its business-to-business division while lowering costs in response to current market conditions. Lanigan declined to specify the exact number of employees affected.
The layoffs come even though Luno became the first dedicated crypto service to receive a South African Financial Services Provider license under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act of 2002 (FAIS), which classifies crypto assets as financial products. South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority has been among the more proactive regulators on the continent in bringing crypto platforms under formal oversight, and Luno's licensing had positioned it favorably as compliance requirements tighten.
The restructuring coincides with a significant decline in Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and other digital assets throughout 2026, which has weighed on retail crypto trading activity. Separately, South African crypto exchange Bitcoin volumes have dropped by 95% in less than five years. The volume contraction reflects a broader pattern across emerging-market exchanges, where retail participation has thinned following successive market downturns.
"Luno has made material investments in automation and broader operational improvements over the last year and is continuing to integrate and develop tools that are rapidly changing the resource model required to run the business effectively," Lanigan said. "These factors mean that a leaner and adapted structure is both necessary and appropriate."
The restructuring is aimed at three key objectives: expanding offerings to institutional investors, strengthening core infrastructure and regulatory compliance, and increasing investment in retail products.
Luno is headquartered in London but was founded in South Africa and operates across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, serving more than 16 million users. The company is opening its infrastructure to institutional partners, including Johannesburg-based Discovery Bank, enabling banks, fintechs, and telecommunications firms to offer crypto services under their own brands while Luno provides liquidity, wallet infrastructure, and compliance capabilities. The model follows an emerging pattern in digital assets where regulated infrastructure providers white-label services for traditional financial institutions entering crypto without building in-house capability.
"We will be announcing more new partners for this offering throughout the year," Lanigan said.
The company is also working to strengthen its position in non-U.S. stablecoins across emerging markets. Luno is a founding participant in ZARU, a South African Rand-backed stablecoin initiative whose founding partners include Sanlam, Lesaka Technologies, and EasyEquities.
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 3, 2026
Lanigan said the company ultimately plans to replicate the ZARU model in other emerging markets where local-currency stablecoin infrastructure remains underdeveloped. The initiative aligns with a global push for non-dollar stablecoins, as projects in the eurozone, Singapore, and Brazil have similarly introduced tokens denominated in local currencies for payments and settlement. Luno also intends to expand its institutional settlement business to reduce the cost and complexity of cross-border money movement using digital asset rails.
The restructuring reflects a broader shift across the cryptocurrency industry, as exchanges increasingly seek more stable revenue streams from institutional clients, payments, and financial infrastructure while retail trading activity remains volatile. Major exchanges including Coinbase and Kraken have similarly expanded their institutional and infrastructure offerings as they navigate cyclical downturns in retail demand.