Bitcoin startup Luno has announced the support of ether, allowing users in 40 countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, and several countries in Europe, to trade the cryptocurrency.
Ether, the native token to the Ethereum network, is the second largest cryptocurrency in the world with a market capitalization of US$30 billion. Users of Luno can now buy and sell ether through the Luno wallet, the company said in a release today.
Marcus Swanepoel, co-founder and CEO of Luno, said:
“It is core to our beliefs that decentralised digital currency will form the basis of the future of finance.
“Our mission at Luno is to bring digital currencies to everyone, everywhere. It is our view that we will end up with a multi-digital currency world and Ethereum is aligned with this view.”
The announcement comes a few months after Luno announced its expansion into 35 new markets across Europe following its Series B funding round. The company raised US$9 million in the round, which was led by Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms, and included participation from Digital Currency Group, Naspers, Venturra Capital, and new investor AlphaCode, the fintech arm of Ran Merchant Investment Holdings.
Luno, formerly BitX, operates a bitcoin exchange platform, offers a bitcoin wallet service, and provides merchant solutions. It has offices in Singapore, Cape Town and London.
In South Africa, Luno has worked with the likes of Pick N Pay, one of the country’s largest retailers, to trial bitcoin payments in-store.
Luno was also one of the 18 fintech startups selected to join the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s first cohort of the regulatory sandbox last year.
