LONDON — The CEO of cryptocurrency alternate Luno is stepping apart and handing the reins to its head of operations, the corporate introduced Wednesday.
It comes as Luno’s dad or mum firm, crypto-focused enterprise capital agency Digital Forex Group, continues to reel from turmoil within the crypto market. Luno additionally lately laid off 35% of its international workforce.
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Marcus Swanepoel, a South African former banker who based Luno in 2013 with the goal of bringing crypto to the plenty, will hand over his CEO title after 10 years to develop into govt chairman, the corporate mentioned in a press launch Wednesday.
James Lanigan, Luno’s chief working officer, will take over the reins as Luno’s new CEO. Lanigan joined Luno in 2018 and beforehand served as chief advertising officer for the restaurant reservation platform TheFork, previously Bookatable.
As govt chairman, Swanepoel will spend much less time within the day-to-day operating of Luno, as an alternative working with Lanigan and administration to information technique and deal with broadening Luno’s investor base, the corporate mentioned.
In an announcement, Swanepoel mentioned he was “excited for our subsequent chapter as we proceed to place the ability of crypto in everybody’s arms.”
“The chance for crypto is larger and brighter than ever, and James is a seasoned operator and an excellent chief with a observe report of success throughout all facets of operating a really international fintech enterprise.”
Luno mentioned it has additionally employed funding banking agency Canaccord Genuity Group to assist it elevate new funding from outdoors buyers. It marks the primary time the corporate is opening as much as new buyers since being acquired by DCG in 2020.
Luno will goal to boost cash from buyers aside from DCG to assist it broaden internationally, acquire market share, and put together for an eventual itemizing, Luno mentioned within the press launch.
DCG, Luno’s dad or mum firm, has been grappling with the continuing fallout from final 12 months’s plunge in token costs and the collapse of FTX, the controversial alternate whose failure in November sparked a collection of bankruptcies within the business.
Inside DCG’s sprawling portfolio of crypto holdings, digital foreign money lender Genesis filed for chapter safety owing collectors a minimum of $3 billion, whereas Grayscale, the most important crypto asset administration agency, faces questions over its publicity to FTX and the widening low cost its bitcoin funding belief trades at relative to the underlying asset.
CoinDesk, the DCG-owned crypto information outlet, employed funding financial institution Lazard to discover a possible sale, CNBC beforehand reported.
A DCG spokesperson insisted Swanepoel’s job transfer was unrelated to the difficulties confronted by Luno’s dad or mum firm and had been within the works for 12 months. Transitioning from CEO to govt chairman is a “frequent path for founder CEOs,” the spokesperson added.
“Having first invested in Luno’s seed spherical in 2014 adopted by an acquisition in 2020, we wish to thank Marcus for his dynamic management and enduring enthusiasm for the worldwide crypto panorama as he remodeled Luno right into a digital asset powerhouse,” Barry Silbert, DCG’s founder and CEO, mentioned in an announcement Wednesday.
Swanepoel’s choice to step down as CEO caps off a litany of dangerous information surrounding Luno. The London-based agency, which has places of work in Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe, laid off 35% of its workforce in January, citing market turbulence. The corporate additionally misplaced its co-founder and chief know-how officer, Timothy Stranex, in December.
Regardless of the ache the business has endured, digital currencies have proven indicators of a restoration this 12 months. Bitcoin is up 70% for the reason that begin of the 12 months and is presently buying and selling above $28,000 for the primary time in 9 months. Ether, the second-biggest token, has risen 50% year-to-date and is now price $1,800 apiece.
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