Blockchain investment firm Digital Currency Group has acquired popular cryptocurrency exchange Luno.
The exchange was founded in South Africa back in 2013 has seen tremendous growth over the past seven years. The company has expanded its cryptocurrency exchange platform to over 40 different countries around the world and has around 5 million customers.
The company has rolled out its platform in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe and the acquisition by DCG is aimed at helping Luno expand its operations in countries it currently operates in as well as new markets which are yet to be disclosed.
Luno’s acquisition by DCG is the latest move in the two organisation’s history, with the latter having invested in Luno’s seed capital raising round in 2013. In order for DCG to acquire a full stake in Luno, it had to buy out the shares held by prominent principal investors Naspers and Rand Merchant Investments.
In the official press release announcing the acquisition, DCG founder and CEO Barry Silbert highlighted the company’s belief that Luno has bright future ahead.
“We are proud to have supported Luno as an early investor, and we recognize a shared commitment to building mission-driven companies that can help transform traditional financial services and improve economic freedom for people all over the world. Luno is a high growth, global business and there is a massive opportunity to expand organically and through acquisitions,” Silbert said.
Luno team to remain at the helm
Luno will continue to run its operations as an independent company while leaning on DCG for leadership and capital investments as it plans to grow. Luno co-founder and CEO Marcus Swanepoel believes the move has come at an important juncture in the cryptocurrency space.
“DCG has been an integral part of the Luno story during this time, and we’ve been fully aligned on our vision and culture since day one. Having the full backing of DCG just as we’re experiencing such a pivotal moment of growth in the industry is not just an exciting and important milestone for Luno, but more importantly it will significantly accelerate our ability to reach our goal to help upgrade one billion people to a better financial system by 2030,” Swanepoel said.
Luno will continue to operate from its main regional offices located in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, and Jakarta.
DCG continues to acquire major assets in the crypto world
Silbert’s Digital Currency Group has made some major moves in the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem in recent months, both through its own acquisitions and the performances of some of its prominent subsidiaries.
At the end of August the investment firm poured $100mln into the acquisition of Bitcoin mining capital and advisory service Foundry. The move effectively made DCG the largest cryptocurrency mining operator in North America. The company offers financing and consultancy services to mining firms in addition to its own mining operations.
On the purely investment fron, DCG’s major subsidiary Grayscale Investments has enjoyed a bumper year with its flagship Bitcoin Trust having grown its BTC holdings by $1.6bln in 2020 alone.
