Digital Currency Group Snaps Up British Crypto Exchange Luno

The New York-based crypto investor the Digital Currency Group (DCG) has announced it has taken over UK-based crypto exchange Luno for an undisclosed sum.

DCG made an initial investment in Luno back in 2014, but the platform has continued to grow in recent years, setting up bases in Singapore and Cape Town, South Africa.

Per DCG and Luno press releases, Luno says it has “nearly 400 employees and more than five million global customers spanning over 40 countries.”

DCG claimed that it would be “making a significant financial commitment to help Luno expand globally, both in geographies where Luno currently operates and beyond.”

Luno founder Marcus Swanepoel claimed,

“When we started Luno, we certainly did not set out to sell the company. We […] continue to be in a very strong financial position to this day. That said, as the industry has evolved over the past few years, it became clearer to me that the most effective way to upgrade the world to a new, better financial system – at scale – is by having a company and business model that is deeply integrated across the entire industry and value chain.”

DCG also owns Grayscale Investments, which it claims is the “world’s largest digital currency asset manager” as well as crypto brokerage Genesis and other crypto-related firms.

The firm has also invested in leading crypto exchanges such as Japanese market leader bitFlyer, Mexico’s Bitso, Britain’s Blockchain.com, South Korea’s Korbit, and American giants Coinbase and Kraken.

Previous Luno backers include the likes of the South African tech investor Naspers.