Cryptocurrency exchange Luno is set to cut about 20 percent of its global workforce as part of a sweeping restructuring aimed at reducing costs, streamlining operations and repositioning the business for its next phase of growth.
The development was disclosed by Luno Chief Executive Officer James Lanigan in a response to media questions, where he said the restructuring would see the company scale its business-to-business division while aligning its cost base with prevailing market conditions. He, however, declined to disclose the exact number of employees affected.
The restructuring comes as the broader cryptocurrency market continues to grapple with prolonged volatility. Over the past year, the price of Bitcoin has fallen by £40,541.33, representing a 45.95% decline, underscoring the pressure facing retail-focused crypto exchanges as trading activity weakens alongside declining digital asset prices.
Why Luno is restructuring and cutting its workforce
According to Lanigan, the restructuring is not solely a response to weaker market conditions but also reflects the company’s increasing reliance on automation and operational efficiencies that have fundamentally changed how the business is run.
“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 expected to free up resources for areas the company considers strategic to its long-term growth. Rather than concentrating primarily on retail crypto trading, Luno plans to deepen its presence among institutional investors, strengthen its core infrastructure and regulatory compliance capabilities, while continuing to improve products for retail customers.
The exchange, which now serves about 16 million users across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, is also expanding infrastructure that allows institutional partners to integrate cryptocurrency services directly into their own platforms.
Under the model, banks, fintech firms, telecommunications companies and other businesses will be able to offer crypto products under their own brands while relying on Luno’s wallet infrastructure, liquidity and compliance capabilities.
“We will be announcing more and new partners for this offering throughout the year,” he said.
Beyond institutional partnerships, the company is also seeking to strengthen its position in the emerging stablecoin ecosystem by supporting more non-US dollar stablecoins across emerging markets. Luno is already a founding participant in ZARU, a South African rand-backed stablecoin initiative, and plans to replicate similar local-currency stablecoin models in other markets where such infrastructure remains underdeveloped.
African crypto landscape continues to evolve beyond investment
Even as crypto exchanges adjust to changing market realities, Africa’s digital asset ecosystem continues to mature rapidly, evolving from a market once dominated by speculative investment into one increasingly driven by real-world financial utility.
Across the continent, cryptocurrencies are becoming deeply embedded in payment infrastructure, cross-border commerce and financial inclusion strategies, with businesses, regulators and financial institutions steadily embracing blockchain-powered payment solutions.
This transformation is particularly evident in South Africa, where nearly 7.8 million people used cryptocurrency platforms during the first half of 2025, according to a report by Discovery Bank and Visa.
The study found that 70 percent of respondents were at least roughly familiar with cryptocurrencies, 54 percent either currently own or have previously owned digital assets, while another 41 percent said they are likely to purchase cryptocurrency in the future.
Nigeria is witnessing a similar shift. A recent Cross-Border Payments Interoperability Index published by Thunes in partnership with Juniper Research found that about 40 percent of Nigerians now use cryptocurrency for international money transfers, highlighting how digital assets are increasingly serving as practical payment rails rather than merely speculative investment vehicles.
The continent’s growing embrace of crypto payments has also attracted fresh institutional backing.
In early July, TechMedia Africa reported that African fintech unicorn Flutterwave secured an undisclosed investment from Circle Ventures to accelerate the adoption of USDC as a settlement option for businesses across Africa, further reinforcing the role of stablecoins in facilitating faster and more efficient cross-border transactions.
Regulatory momentum is also gathering pace in Nigeria. In mid-July, President Bola Tinubu signed an executive order designed to harmonise the regulation of virtual assets, strengthen coordination among government agencies and curb the misuse of digital assets for financial crimes, while simultaneously encouraging responsible innovation across the sector.
The executive order followed another significant milestone just two weeks earlier, when the Securities and Exchange Commission granted approval-in-principle to seven cryptocurrency companies under its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme, another important step toward formalising Nigeria’s fast-expanding digital asset industry.
Taken together, these developments illustrate how Africa’s cryptocurrency landscape is steadily transitioning beyond its early reputation as a vehicle for investment among young retail traders. Increasingly, digital assets are becoming integral to everyday financial services, enabling cross-border remittances, business settlements, institutional partnerships and local-currency stablecoin initiatives that could reshape how payments move across the continent in the years ahead.