Luno, a cryptocurrency wallet and exchange serving customers across 40 countries, today announced a series of strategic initiatives to position the company for its next phase of growth.
Luno’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Marcus Swanepoel is moving into a new role as Executive Chairman, and Chief Operating Officer James Lanigan, who has been with the company for five years, is elevated to CEO.
As Executive Chairman, Swanepoel will continue to work closely with Lanigan to guide Luno’s vision and strategy, while focusing on broadening Luno’s investor base to support the company’s next stage of growth.
As part of this process, Luno has hired Canaccord Genuity Group to help bring on new institutional and strategic investors alongside Digital Currency Group (DCG) to fund scaling, support expansion, accelerate market share gain, and prepare the company for an eventual public listing.
“Co-founding and serving as the CEO of Luno for the past ten years has been the greatest honour of my career and I’m excited for our next chapter as we continue to put the power of crypto in everyone’s hands,” said Swanepoel. “The opportunity for crypto is bigger and brighter than ever, and James is a seasoned operator and an outstanding leader with a track record of success across all aspects of running a truly global fintech business. I have the utmost confidence that James will continue to deepen our trust with customers and key stakeholders alike, driving both Luno’s business and the industry forward.”
Currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer, Lanigan established Luno as a market-leading brand across multiple markets, building local teams throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia Pacific, while also growing Luno’s product portfolio for easier access to crypto. In this capacity, Lanigan oversaw Operations, Commercial, Countries, Product, Marketing, and Customer Success departments. Prior to joining Luno in 2018, Lanigan held senior commercial, operational and marketing roles across multiple industries, most recently as the Chief Marketing Officer at Bookatable – now TheFork, a leading global online restaurant reservation platform acquired by Michelin in 2016.
“It has been a privilege to serve alongside a founder and leader as strong as Marcus, who cares so deeply about making a positive impact for our customers and employees,” Lanigan added. “I’m passionate about continuing to help Luno build the products and services that guide our customers in a responsible way along every step of their crypto journey, while maintaining our dedication to trust, security and compliance.”
“Having first invested in Luno’s seed round in 2014 followed by an acquisition in 2020, we want to thank Marcus for his dynamic leadership and enduring enthusiasm for the global crypto landscape as he transformed Luno into a digital asset powerhouse,” said Barry Silbert, Founder and CEO, DCG. “With James at the helm and strategic partnership from Marcus in his new role as Executive Chairman, we look forward to supporting Luno in its ambitious and continued growth journey.”
Luno is a wholly owned investment of DCG. As one of the most preeminent digital asset investors, DCG acquired Luno in 2020 post their Series B funding round and after first investing in the company’s seed round in 2014. Providing capital, strategic guidance, and other resources to evolve its business model, DCG supported Luno scaling to $100 million revenue with a 40 percent operating margin and more than 11 million wallets across 40 countries.