Crypto exchange Luno has acquired GTXN, a Kenyan cross-border payments company and licensed fund manager, for an undisclosed sum, The Condia reported. GTXN will become Luno’s cross-border payments arm, with founder Dan Kleinbaum continuing as chief executive.
What Luno gets
GTXN runs licensed collection and payout rails, and is licensed by Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority as a fund manager. Instead of sending a transfer through two or three correspondent banks, each adding delay, currency conversion and a fee, Luno can now move money through one provider on rails it owns, settled against its own funds.
It is Kleinbaum’s second exit in six years. He co-founded mobile money platform Beyonic, which MFS Africa (now Onafriq) bought in 2020.
Part of a bigger reshuffle
- In July, Nigeria’s SEC admitted Luno’s Nigerian entity into its ARIP regulatory sandbox, allowing it to offer crypto products under supervision.
- In August, Luno cut 20% of its global staff, though it said only about 5% of roles in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda were affected.
- It reorganised into three units: retail exchange and “crypto as a service” for banks and fintechs; stablecoins and wallets; and institutional settlement, where GTXN fits.
Why it matters
Moving money between African countries, and between Africa and the rest of the world, is still slow and expensive. Competition to fix it is heating up: Yellow Card raised $40 million in August, and Onafriq has expanded USDC stablecoin settlement to more than 40 African markets. Buying licensed firms is becoming a faster route into this market than waiting for new licences.
Source: The Condia.
