LONDON — The CEO of cryptocurrency trade 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 Currency Group, continues to reel from turmoil within the crypto market. Luno additionally just 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 intention of bringing crypto to the plenty, will quit his CEO title after 10 years to turn out to be govt chairman, the corporate stated 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 and marketing officer for the restaurant reservation platform TheFork, previously Bookatable.
As govt chairman, Swanepoel will spend much less time within the day-to-day working of Luno, as an alternative working with Lanigan and administration to information technique and give attention to broadening Luno’s investor base, the corporate stated.
In an announcement, Swanepoel stated he was “excited for our next chapter as we continue to put the power of crypto in everyone’s hands.”
“The opportunity for crypto is bigger and brighter than ever, and James is a seasoned operator and an outstanding leader with a track record of success across all aspects of running a truly global fintech business.”
Luno stated it has additionally employed funding banking agency Canaccord Genuity Group to assist it increase new funding from exterior buyers. It marks the primary time the corporate is opening as much as new buyers since being acquired by DCG in 2020.
Luno will intention to lift cash from buyers apart from DCG to assist it increase internationally, achieve market share, and put together for an eventual itemizing, Luno stated 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 trade whose failure in November sparked a collection of bankruptcies within the business.
Within DCG’s sprawling portfolio of crypto holdings, digital forex lender Genesis filed for chapter safety owing collectors no less than $3 billion, whereas Grayscale, the biggest 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 “common path for founder CEOs,” the spokesperson added.
“Having first invested in Luno’s seed round in 2014 followed by an acquisition in 2020, we want to thank Marcus for his dynamic leadership and enduring enthusiasm for the global crypto landscape as he transformed Luno into a digital asset powerhouse,” Barry Silbert, DCG’s founder and CEO, stated in an announcement Wednesday.
Swanepoel’s resolution to step down as CEO caps off a litany of unhealthy 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 firm additionally misplaced its co-founder and chief know-how officer, Timothy Stranex, in December.
Despite 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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Source: www.cnbc.com”