Luno Cuts 20% of Staff as South African Crypto Firm Restructures Globally

• Luno, the South African-founded cryptocurrency exchange, announced it is cutting roughly 20% of its workforce worldwide
• CEO James Lanigan said the restructure is tied to automation investments and shifting market conditions in retail crypto trading
• The company plans to scale its business-to-business unit and expand services to institutional partners across emerging markets

Luno, the South African-founded cryptocurrency exchange, is set to cut approximately 20% of its global workforce as part of a major restructuring effort. Chief Executive Officer James Lanigan confirmed the move, citing automation upgrades and the need to align costs with current market conditions.

Lanigan declined to specify the exact number of jobs affected, but the scale of the cuts signals a significant shift in how the company intends to operate going forward.

Why Luno is Restructuring

According to Business Tech, the decision comes amid falling prices across major crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, which have weighed heavily on retail trading volumes. Luno has spent the past year investing in automation and operational improvements, which has changed the size and shape of the team it needs to run the business.

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The restructure is not purely about cutting costs. Cryptocurrency company Luno plans to use the reorganisation to grow its business-to-business division, strengthen its core infrastructure, improve regulatory compliance, and invest more heavily in retail-customer products.

Luno's push into institutional markets

Headquartered in London, Luno currently serves 16 million users across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. The company is now opening its infrastructure to institutional partners, with Johannesburg-based Discovery Bank among the first. The model allows banks, fintechs and telecoms companies to offer crypto services under their own brands, while Luno handles the liquidity, wallet infrastructure and compliance behind the scenes.

Luno is also positioning itself as a key player in non-US stablecoin markets across emerging economies. The company is a founding participant in ZARU, a stablecoin pegged to the South African rand, alongside Sanlam, Lesaka Technologies and EasyEquities. The plan is to replicate this model in other markets where local-currency stablecoin infrastructure is lacking.

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3 Other Briefly News stories about job cuts

• CAF president Patrice Motsepe addressed questions on illegal immigration and job creation at a press briefing in Johannesburg on 22 July 2026.
• A Wits University LLB graduate shared a raw and emotional appeal about his two-year struggle to find articles after graduating.
• Stats SA data revealed that domestic worker jobs in South Africa declined during the first quarter of 2026 as unemployment continued rising across the country.

Source: Briefly News