Luno Cuts One in Five Jobs as Automation and Slowing Retail Trading Drive Institutional Pivot
Luno Cuts One in Five Jobs as Automation and Slowing Retail Trading Drive Institutional Pivot #
Cryptocurrency exchange Luno is cutting roughly 20% of its global workforce, citing slower retail trading volumes and the expanded role of automation in its operations, according to CoinDesk and other outlets reporting on a Bloomberg interview with the company’s chief executive.
CEO James Lanigan confirmed the cuts but declined to give a precise headcount. Luno, owned by Digital Currency Group and serving more than 16 million customers mainly across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, said automation and other operational improvements made over the past year had significantly reduced its staffing needs.
Despite the cuts, Luno said it plans to keep investing in its consumer platform, core infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. The company is also expanding into institutional and business-to-business services, offering white-label crypto infrastructure to banks, fintech firms, and telecommunications providers that want to deliver digital asset services under their own brands. South Africa’s Discovery Bank, which gave its customers access to more than 50 cryptocurrencies through Luno in late 2025, is an early example of that approach.
Luno is also a founding participant in ZARU, a South African rand-backed stablecoin launched in February 2026 alongside Sanlam, EasyEquities, and Lesaka. The project runs on blockchain infrastructure, targets both retail and institutional users, and is part of Luno’s push into local-currency digital asset products beyond conventional crypto trading.
The latest cuts are the second significant workforce reduction at Luno in roughly three and a half years. In January 2023 the exchange cut 35% of its staff, citing what the company described at the time as an incredibly tough year for the broader crypto market.
The reductions come as layoffs have spread across the crypto sector. According to CoinDesk, twelve crypto-related companies reported workforce reductions or restructurings in July 2026 alone, with at least 894 specific job losses disclosed across six named reductions. Coinbase and Crypto.com have each cut staff in recent months, with many citing slower retail activity and a shift toward greater automation and artificial intelligence in day-to-day operations.
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