Luno Cuts 20% of Staff as Automation Reshapes Its Business
Luno is leaning further into white-label services for banks and fintechs as weaker retail volumes and automation help reduce costs.
Key Takeaways
- Luno is cutting about 20% of its global workforce as retail trading weakens and automation takes on a bigger role.
- CEO James Lanigan says the company’s automation and operational upgrades over the past year have changed what it needs to keep running.
- Luno is pushing further into business-to-business with white-label crypto services for banks, fintechs, and telecom companies.
Cryptocurrency exchange Luno is reducing its global headcount by about 20%. The company says softer retail trading and a heavier reliance on automation are driving it toward a leaner setup and more institutional business.
Automation Is Reshaping the Company
CEO James Lanigan confirmed the layoffs to Bloomberg, though he did not give an exact number of employees affected. He said the company’s spending on automation and other operational improvements over the past year has changed the resources required to run Luno.
Even with the cuts, Luno is still putting money into retail products, infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. Still, the company is leaning more toward business-to-business, where it helps banks, fintechs, and telecom companies launch crypto offerings under their own brands through a white-label model.
Second Major Move in Three Years
This is Luno’s second major round of layoffs in three and a half years. In January 2023, the exchange cut 35% of its staff, saying the market had just gone through a particularly difficult year.
Luno started in 2013 as BitX before shifting its focus more heavily to emerging markets, especially Africa and Southeast Asia. The company, which was acquired by Digital Currency Group in 2020, now runs both a retail exchange and a white-label business that provides liquidity, wallets, and compliance infrastructure.
Why This Matters for Europe
For European crypto readers, the move is another example of exchanges adjusting their cost base as retail volumes stay under pressure. It also shows how compliance and infrastructure are becoming just as important as the trading platform itself. Luno’s setup, where one company supplies the technical and legal backbone behind the scenes, fits a wider trend of crypto services becoming more deeply embedded in traditional financial channels. A similar shift can be seen at Coinbase, which is betting on new products to rely less on trading fees.
