African Crypto Exchange Luno Explores Push into US

As the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in Africa, Luno is looking to get its offerings in front of some of the world’s largest segment of digital asset investors — those in the U.S.

Luno is busy scouring every U.S. state to dig into regulatory requirements and differences in an effort to enter the country with its exchange sometime in 2022, Marius Reitz, general manager for Africa at Luno, told Bloomberg.

Reitz pointed to the variables among states that make it especially tough compared with moving into a single market. Regardless of the challenges, he told Bloomberg that Luno is focused on getting to the U.S. this year.

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Launched in 2013 and headquartered in London and with regional hubs in Singapore and Cape Town, Luno was co-founded by CEO Marcus Swanepoel, CFO Alwyn Jones, and CTO Timothy Stranex. Formerly known as BitX, Luno was acquired in 2020 by Digital Currency Group.

Luno has over 9 million users in more than 40 countries and has processed $14 billion-plus in transactions, according to company documents. The company trades in bitcoin, Ethereum and ripple, with new coins coming soon, Reitz told the news outlet.

Almost one-fifth of the population in Nigeria and South Africa hold digital assets. It’s in those areas where cryptocurrency has taken hold and caught on. Reitz told Bloomberg that there are also untapped opportunities in East Africa.

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FTX and Binance are just some of the crypto exchange brands heading to the U.S., where CB Insights data shows that more than 50% of crypto unicorns worldwide reside.

Reitz thinks cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds — where investors can hold numerous coins without buying them — are coming down the pike sometime in the next 24 months, per the report.