Luno Review

Fees explained

Luno prices the simple route and the exchange route very differently, and the gap is large. The South African rates below apply as of September 2026 (source: Luno fees and limits in South Africa). Stablecoin pairs are cheaper than the rand pairs at the same tier.

Funding is the cheap part, and the rail-by-rail costs appear under deposits and withdrawals below.

History and ownership

Luno has been running since 2013 and describes itself as an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which it says has invested in more than 200 companies across 35 countries (source: Luno about page, read September 2026). Ownership by a large investment group gives Luno access to capital and a parent with a long record in the industry. It also means the company you are trusting with a bank transfer is not the company whose name is on the app, which is worth knowing before you sign up.

The company is unusual among global exchanges in publishing a plain list of the entities it operates through and the authorizations each one holds. As of the page's stated update of March 21, 2025, Luno (Pty) Ltd is an authorised financial services provider in South Africa under FSP number 53314, a registered credit provider, and registered with the Financial Intelligence Centre. Luno Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is a Recognized Market Operator licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia. PT Luno Indonesia Ltd is licensed by the Indonesian Financial Services Authority as a digital financial asset trader. Luno Australia is registered with AUSTRAC, Luno International Limited holds a Class F Digital Asset Business licence from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and the Nigerian and Ugandan entities hold financial intelligence unit registrations (source: Luno licenses and registrations page).

That list tells you where Luno is a supervised firm and where it is only registered for anti-money-laundering purposes. The two are not the same, and the difference matters when you are deciding who to trust with a bank transfer.

Products and markets

Luno's public ticker endpoint returned 145 markets in September 2026 (source: Luno public API, tickers endpoint). The mix reflects where the company actually operates: 51 pairs quoted in Malaysian ringgit, 25 in South African rand, 14 in Nigerian naira, 14 in Tether, 13 in Bitcoin, 8 in Indonesian rupiah, 4 in Kenyan shilling, 4 in Ugandan shilling, and a handful in pounds and USDC. If you want local-currency order books in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia, that is a strong list. If you want a long tail of small-cap tokens, it is not.

The product range has widened well beyond buying coins. Luno now offers bundles, tokenised stocks, a payments product, staking, a USDC earn product, an OTC desk, prediction markets, and institutional minting and settlement services (source: Luno product pages, read September 2026). Tokenised stocks and prediction markets are newer regulated-adjacent products, and the terms attached to each differ by country, so read the risk disclosure for your own jurisdiction rather than assuming the app offers you the same thing it offers someone else.

Security record and custody

Luno says it stores all assets on a 1:1 basis and publishes a monthly proof of reserves, and it runs a public bug bounty programme (source: Luno about page and legal pages, read September 2026). A monthly proof of reserves cycle is more frequent than many competitors manage, and the bug bounty is a small but real signal that the company invites outside scrutiny of its code.

RampAtlas found no hack, insolvency, or regulatory enforcement action against a Luno entity in a primary or regulator source as of September 2026. What Luno does carry is South African conduct regulation, which is the most substantive supervision in its portfolio and gives customers there a complaints route that ends outside the company.

Note the custodial model. Luno holds the keys. Assets bought through the app are Luno's obligation to you, not something you control, until you withdraw them to a wallet you hold yourself. That is true of nearly every exchange, and it is worth stating plainly on a platform that markets heavily to first-time buyers.

Deposits and withdrawals

South African funding is the best documented and the cheapest (source: Luno fees and limits in South Africa).

Other markets have their own rails and their own fee pages, and the numbers above do not carry across. Check the fees page for your country before you fund, and prefer the ordinary bank transfer where you can wait for it, because the instant options are where the cost sits. Crypto withdrawals are priced per asset and network in the usual way.

Support and usability

The app is the reason most people use Luno. It is built for someone making a first purchase, with a simple buy screen, a portfolio view, and enough explanation to get a beginner through kyc without help. Support runs through a help centre with 24-hour coverage.

The cost of that simplicity is the 2% Portfolio fee. The Exchange tab, which is one tap away and shows a real order book, charges 0.60% at the entry tier and less as you trade more. Anyone buying more than a token amount should learn the Exchange screen, because using the simple screen for a R10,000 purchase costs roughly R140 more than placing the same order on the Exchange.

Verdict

Luno fits a first-time buyer in South Africa, Malaysia, Nigeria, Indonesia, or Kenya who wants local-currency deposits, a clear app, and a company that publishes which regulator supervises which entity. Free bank transfers and a monthly proof of reserves are genuine strengths.

Look elsewhere if you want a wide altcoin list, low fees on small simple buys, or derivatives. The 2% Portfolio rate is high, and the answer is to use the Exchange rather than a different company. Buyers can compare local options at South Africa, Buy Bitcoin, and Compare.