South African cryptocurrency exchange and wallet Luno has registered stellar growth, hitting 3 million wallets, an executive at the company has revealed. Marius Reitz, the general manager for Africa at Luno, described the milestone as an indication that cryptos are becoming adopted across the world, enabling an open financial system which everyone can access.
Luno was founded by two South African entrepreneurs, Marcus Swanepoel and Timothy Stranex, in 2013. While at the time cryptos were still an alien concept to many in South Africa, they have become more popular in recent years, propelling Luno to great heights. Luno is backed by Naspers, one of the largest tech investors globally and the largest shareholder in Tencent.
Reitz further revealed, “In the last month, more than R80 million ($5.4 million) worth of cryptocurrency trades have been completed on Luno’s South African platform on a daily basis.”
The exchange has expanded globally, shifting its offices to London. It currently has over 300 employees spread across South Africa, the U.K., Malaysia, Nigeria, Indonesia and Singapore. Despite the international expansion, South Africa has continued to be its largest market, Reitz noted.
Luno boasts of having higher liquidity than its competitors, especially in the African market. Reitz explained, “An increasing number of customers are looking to buy and sell cryptocurrency on Luno. It’s therefore important to consider the liquidity on the exchange, which refers to the volume of cryptocurrency being traded. In turn, the volume of trades results in a narrowing between the asking price and eventual purchase price of coins.”
The growth of the user numbers to 3 million is an indication that cryptos are becoming adopted, both in Africa and globally, Reitz remarked. Luno now operates in 40 countries. This growth reinforces the company’s aim of “reimagining a financial system where money is cheaper, faster and safer with open and equal access for everyone.”
Paxful, yet another crypto trading platform that has focused on Africa, has also continued expanding, striking partnerships with the White Company and CoinLogiq recently. The partnership with the latter enabled Paxful to introduce crypto ATMs in Peru and Colombia. As CoinGeek reported, Paxful is seeking to establish at least 45 crypto ATMs in the two countries.
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