NY-DIGITAL-CURRENCY
9.9.2020 12:02:09 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Digital Currency Group (DCG), a global enterprise that builds, buys, and invests in blockchain companies, today announced the acquisition of Luno , a leading cryptocurrency exchange. Based in London and with regional hubs in Singapore and Cape Town, Luno has grown significantly in recent years, with nearly 400 employees and more than five million global customers spanning over 40 countries. New York-based DCG will be making a significant financial commitment to help Luno expand globally, both in geographies where Luno currently operates and beyond. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Led by co-founder and CEO Marcus Swanepoel, Luno has become a digital asset powerhouse in many emerging and frontier markets, providing digital asset education, knowledge, and investment tools for individuals in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Luno has helped broaden the global crypto investment community and the company has seen record growth of its customer base in 2020. Luno is a leading exchange in several countries that have the highest percentage of cryptocurrency ownership, including South Africa (third-highest percentage of its citizens owning digital currencies), Nigeria (fifth-highest), Indonesia (sixth-highest), and Malaysia (tenth-highest).1
DCG is an investment firm that has backed more than 160 blockchain companies around the world. In addition to its venture portfolio, DCG is the parent company of several wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Grayscale Investments (the world’s largest digital currency asset manager), Genesis (a leading digital asset prime brokerage), CoinDesk (the preeminent media and events company in the industry), and the recently-launched Foundry , which provides institutional expertise, capital, and market intelligence to bitcoin miners and manufacturers.
DCG first invested in Luno in its seed round in 2014.
“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,” said DCG Founder and CEO Barry Silbert. “Luno is a high growth, global business and there is a massive opportunity to expand organically and through acquisitions.”
DCG enables its subsidiaries to operate as independent companies, providing leadership, partnership, and investment capital to help scale the businesses. The Luno leadership team will remain entirely intact and Swanepoel will lead acquisition efforts in his role as CEO.
“The past seven years have been an incredibly exciting journey for Luno – helping millions of our customers get access to crypto for the first time,” said Swanepoel. “DCG has been an integral part of the Luno story during all of 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 1 billion people to a better financial system by 2030.”
“We have been extremely impressed with Marcus and the Luno team since we made our initial investment,” added Silbert. “Marcus understands our culture and appreciates how well Luno fits into the DCG family. He is a focused, high integrity leader and exactly the kind of person we want running one of our companies at this critical moment when the crypto industry is at an inflection point.”
Founded in 2013, Luno has been backed by global tech giant the Naspers Group and Balderton Capital amongst others. During these last seven years, Luno has maintained its commitment to upgrading the world to a better financial system. The company believes that the legacy system was built for a non-digital age, ignoring the needs of modern individuals and adding unnecessary inefficiencies and gatekeepers. The world now has access to new technologies like Bitcoin and Ethereum that will fundamentally change how the world views and uses money. Like communication evolving from landlines to mobile phones, money is finally catching up with other information revolutions.
Luno maintains regional offices in Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Jakarta, and Johannesburg, and will continue to focus on the existing geographies where it operates across Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Luno team has also developed an aggressive road map for future growth and will ultimately compete with financial services firms globally. Luno is actively hiring for positions all over the world.
About Digital Currency Group
DCG is a global enterprise that builds, buys, and invests in blockchain companies all over the world. Founded in 2015 by CEO Barry Silbert, DCG is the most active investor in the blockchain sector, with a mission to accelerate the development of a better financial system through the proliferation of digital assets and blockchain technology.
Today, DCG sits at the epicenter of the industry, backing more than 160 companies in 35 countries. DCG also invests directly in digital currencies and other digital assets.
In addition to its investment portfolio, DCG is the parent company of Grayscale Investments, Genesis, CoinDesk, and Foundry.
About Luno
Luno is a leading global cryptocurrency company on a mission to upgrade the world to a better financial system.
Co-founded by CEO Marcus Swanepoel and CTO Timothy Stranex, Luno launched in 2013 and has built a team of nearly 400 with its headquarters in London with regional hubs in Singapore and Cape Town. With over 5 million customers spanning in over 40 countries, Luno’s products and services make it safe and easy to buy, sell, store and learn about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
1 Source: Digital 2020: Global Digital Overview
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200909005262/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Andersen Global etablerer nyt medlemsvirksomhed i Frankrig9.9.2026 23:00:00 CEST | Pressemeddelelse
Andersen Global styrker sin tilstedeværelse i Frankrig med tilføjelsen af Andersen Société d'Avocats (Andersen in France), en medlemsvirksomhed baseret i Paris, der tilbyder integrerede juridiske ydelser til klienter i Frankrig og internationalt. Andersen in France tilbyder strategiske juridiske løsninger inden for selskabsskat, international skat, transfer pricing, moms og skatteprocesser og bistår klienter over hele verden. Under ledelse af de administrerende partnere Benoît Dambre og François Morazin håndterer det tværfaglige team også specialiserede områder som byplanlægning, fast ejendom, intellektuel ejendomsret og privatlivsbeskyttelse, bæredygtighed og ESG, EU-ret og sanktioner samt andre komplekse juridiske problemstillinger. "Vi ser juridisk rådgivning som mere end blot at håndtere umiddelbare udfordringer – det bør hjælpe klienter med at træffe kvalificerede beslutninger og opsøge muligheder med selvtillid," udtalte Benoît. "At blive en del af Andersen Global giver os muligh
Cyclic Materials Opens America’s First Commercial-Scale Facility Delivering Automated Rare Earth Magnet Recovery9.9.2026 22:09:00 CEST | Press release
The Mesa, Arizona facility deploys Cyclic Materials’ proprietary technology to process up to 25,000 metric tons of magnet-bearing products annually, creating a new domestic source of rare earth elements and copper, aluminum and steel for direct reintegration into U.S. manufacturing Cyclic Materials announced today the opening of its first commercial-scale rare earth magnet recycling facility in Mesa, Arizona, marking a major milestone in building domestic supply of rare earths and critical minerals. With an annual processing capacity of up to 25,000 metric tons of magnet-bearing end-of-life products, the facility produces Cyclic’s rare earth magnet material, Mag-Xtract™, and critical minerals such as copper and aluminum, and steel. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260909142592/en/ Leaders gather to mark the opening of Cyclic Materials’ new facility in Mesa, Arizona. From left to right: Herbert Flores, Arizona C
Belkin Introduces Titan SmartShield Pro Collection for the New iPhone 18 Pro Lineup9.9.2026 21:00:00 CEST | Press release
New collection combines advanced Nano-Titan protection with options for crystal-clear viewing, enhanced screen privacy and blue-to-red light conversion Belkin, a leading consumer electronics brand for over 40 years, today introduced its new Titan SmartShield Pro collection, designed to protect and enhance the experience of the new iPhone 18 Pro lineup. The collection includes three distinct screen protectors – clear, Blue-to-Red and Bright Privacy – each combining advanced Nano-Titan Technology with premium anti-reflective properties, exceptional scratch resistance and up to 9 feet of impact protection.* This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260909094720/en/ Belkin Titan SmartShield Pro Blue-to-Red Light screen protector As smartphones become increasingly central to how people work, travel and connect, the Titan SmartShield Pro collection goes beyond traditional screen protection to address the different ways consum
PPAI Releases Landmark Study Showing Branded Merchandise Supports a $472 Billion Global Economic Footprint9.9.2026 19:24:00 CEST | Press release
First-of-its-kind Oxford Economics study reveals annual spending, jobs and tax contributions Branded merchandise connects brands and people every day, but its impact extends well beyond the products consumers wear, use, receive or purchase. A landmark study commissioned by Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) provides the first comprehensive look at the global economic ecosystem behind branded merchandise. Conducted by independent global advisory firm Oxford Economics, the Branded Merchandise Global Market Report measures the industry end to end, from manufacturing and decoration to distribution, retail, e-commerce, fulfillment, marketing and brand activation. Key findings: $338.3 billion was spent on branded merchandise globally in 2025. The industry supported $472.3 billion in global GDP. Branded merchandise supported 11.9 million jobs worldwide. The sector supported $141.3 billion in global tax revenues – roughly the same as the entire Swiss federal budget. “For yea
Vindral Named Recipient of 2026 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award9.9.2026 18:38:00 CEST | Press release
Swedish real-time video company recognised alongside the world's leading media companies for frame-accurate remote production technology Vindral, the Swedish company building future-ready technology for real-time audio and video, has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). Vindral is recognised in the category Web-Based Frame-Accurate Remote Monitoring Systems for Distributed Broadcast Production. The co-recipients in the category are SipRadius, NBCUniversal, Grass Valley, CBS Sports, Disney, Game Creek and Amazon. The awards will be presented on October 14 at the Television Academy's Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California, where Vindral will be represented by CEO Daniel Alinder and Ian Jefferson. The Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award is one of the U.S. television industry's most prestigious recognitions of technical achievement, previously awarded to companies including Apple, So
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom
