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 mother or father firm, crypto-focused enterprise capital agency Digital Currency Group, continues to reel from turmoil within the crypto market. Luno additionally lately laid off 35% of its world workforce.
associated investing news
Marcus Swanepoel, a South African former banker who based Luno in 2013 with the purpose 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 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 deal with broadening Luno’s investor base, the corporate mentioned.
In an announcement, Swanepoel mentioned 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 mentioned 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 purpose to boost cash from buyers apart from DCG to assist it increase internationally, acquire market share, and put together for an eventual itemizing, Luno mentioned within the press launch.
DCG, Luno’s mother or father firm, has been grappling with the continuing fallout from final yr’s plunge in token costs and the collapse of FTX, the controversial alternate whose failure in November sparked a sequence of bankruptcies within the trade.
Within DCG’s sprawling portfolio of crypto holdings, digital foreign money lender Genesis filed for chapter safety owing collectors at the very least $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 news 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 mother or father 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, mentioned in an announcement Wednesday.
Swanepoel’s determination to step down as CEO caps off a litany of unhealthy news surrounding Luno. The London-based agency, which has workplaces 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 trade has endured, digital currencies have proven indicators of a restoration this yr. Bitcoin is up 70% because the begin of the yr and is at the moment 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 value $1,800 apiece.
WATCH: Bitcoin at $10,000 — or $250,000? Investors are sharply divided on 2023
Source: www.cnbc.com