Formerly known as BitX, Luno is one of the oldest Bitcoin exchanges in the World. The UK-based company was established in 2013 at a time when most people hadn’t heard of the digital currency and those who had were mostly not interested. With time, Luno has built a reputation for being one of the most reliable, safe and affordable Bitcoin exchanges in the World. Ironically, their market share remains relatively small and trading rarely exceeds half a million dollars. This could be because, for the longest time, Luno was only dealing with bitcoins, leaving out other currencies which might have brought it a bigger number of clients. As such, when the company changed their name from BitX to Luno, there was speculation that they were planning to introduce supporting services for other digital currencies in a bid to improve their market share. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen.
Update (November 9, 2017): Luno now also offers service for Ethereum, allowing their customers to buy, sell and store ETH.
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Trading Platforms
Luno supports a number of platforms which are all integrated to enable seamless cross-platform interaction. First, there is the web platform, accessed through the main web page and which requires no downloads whatsoever. For mobile users, the Luno mobile app is available at Google PlayStore and is tailored to make trading as safe, smooth and efficient as possible in mobile devices. WebSocket and API platforms are also supported and provide alternative ways to access the exchange system.
Transaction Charges and Commissions
Luno has some of the lowest rates in the industry. Basically, traders incur zero charges when sending or receiving BTC using their email addresses or phone numbers. When sending or receiving BTC through your Bitcoin address, a transaction fee of BTC 0.0002 applies. When it comes to purchases, the payable commission is dependent on whether you are a ‘taker’ or ‘giver.’ Takers are generally those traders who decrease the liquidity by buying Bitcoins. Givers, on the other hand are traders who increase the liquidity by offering Bitcoins for sale.
Transaction charges when funding your account depend on your geographic location and means of payment. Credit card payments attract a maximum 1.50% commission while bank transfers are free for most countries.
Withdrawals attract commissions of up to $50 again, depending on the amount to be withdrawn.
Luno Bitcoin Wallet
The Luno Bitcoin Wallet application for mobile devices makes it possible to buy bitcoin using a credit card. Currently in beta, this feature is only available in Canada, India and Europe. Other features include quickly buying and selling bitcoin, accessing your bitcoin account easily even when you’re away from your computer, and a lot more. You can even use the application to trade on the Luno Exchange. Instant buy/sell and the Luno Exchange are currently available in Indonesia, Nigeria, Singapore and South Africa, with more countries coming soon.
Regulation
As of now, Luno has no known licenses under any jurisdiction. This is probably because Bitcoins are not considered legal tender and governments are yet to develop regulatory frameworks. That said, the company complies with Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering standards to prevent money laundering and ensure that all transactions are secure.
Payment Method
You can fund your Luno account and/or buy BTC via bank transfer, international wire or credit card. Currencies supported include British Pound, Indonesian Rupiah, Malaysian Ringitt and the South African Rand.
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Customer support
Luno customer support can be reached by visiting the help page (luno.com/help) and filling out the inquiry form.
Local office addresses
1 Fore Street, London EC2Y 9DT
120 Robinson Road, Singapore 068913
De Waterkant, Cape Town 8001
Testimonials
We couldn’t find a lot of negative reviews about this bitcoin exchange. One reviewer from South Africa wrote that he has been “using Luno for a couple of months now and I must say I’m impressed. No delays in incoming/outgoing BTC or FIAT to ZAR. Verification checks were straight forward and no issues paying into Capitec.”
Unfortunately, the Bitcoin Wallet application received quite a few negative reviews on the Google Play website. For example, one reviewer said: “this luno is begining to look more and more like a scam.. first I can’t withdraw my money to my naira bank account now I can’t even send out BTC to another account.. what happened to BITX? Luno is a scam..”
Another reviewer writes: “This guy’s are scam there staff hacks into my account as soon as I received btc, my password, my pin n email where never tempered with, luno AR big thief’s it will never be well with you people.”
Now, Luno has taken time to reply to each of these comments, we’ll give them credit for that. But whether or not you should trust this company remains disputable. We dislike the fact that there’s no telephone number for customer support. And also in general we would not recommend doing business with a non-regulated company.
Luno Review Conclusion
We currently believe that while Luno may not be a scam, there are better Bitcoin exchanges out there.Â
If you traded with Luno, please leave a comment below detailing your experience with this bitcoin exchange. Once we have additional feedback about Luno, we will be able to reach a more definite conclusion regarding this company. For now, you’re welcome to visit our List of Bitcoin Exchanges for alternatives.
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i made 2 deposit for RM100 and RM1000 and it is still not in my wallet for more than 5 days, and there is no reply from Luno. my Ticket #189459
Hey there. Please note that your email to Luno had no information explaining the problem (other than two screen grab attachments), which makes it really difficult for the Community to resolve.
This might help for future tickets: luno.com/blog/en/post/getting-help-luno
Your ticket is in the queue, however, and an agent should get to you shortly. Thanks for your patience.
Hi Werner
I see you have helped a few people out so far, hoping you can advise me. I made a payment into my Luno account more than a week ago and still haven’t recieved payment. I contacted the support team last week already and they haven’t gotten back to me.
Here is my ticket number #186897
Regards
Alec
Hey Alec, for security reasons, only our Community Team members have account (and bank) access, but I checked and your issue seems to be resolved. Thanks for the patience.
I just got my inheritance from my father and some of it were some bit coins I really do not know what to do with them . I have been adviced to sell them to individuals at cheaper rates so I can get buyers quickly , so I will be selling my bit coins for $3800 .
Hey Stephen, First off: sorry for your loss. Secondly: I’d recommend that you use a trusted platform instead of a selling Bitcoin to a stranger (the same way if you had another currency, there’s quite a big risk for things to go wrong). All the best,
Hi Werner,
I hope you still monitoring the site.
I have made an withdrawal on 4 Aug 2017 and I have have yet to received my fund until today 21 Aug.
Support ticket # 178202 I made on 10 Aug, not reply not helpful at all.
I seriously consider making a police report if I still not receive my fund after a month of withdrawal request made.
Hope you can assist.
Joe
Thanks for your patience with this. I had the Community Team get back to me and they said it was an incorrect IC Cad number entered, that resulted in the delay. As I have it, the issue is in the process of being resolved. Thanks again for the patience!
I have been using Luno for many months and was actually very happy until yesterday when I sold 0.6302 bitcoin and should have received R41 000… however when the transaction went through I was paid just under R36 000 so was effectively conned out of Around R5000!!
I have sent four messages on the Luno help center and have screen shots of everything which clearly illustrates that I have been conned… I received some one line generic response and nothing since.
The rate that my bitcoin was converted at was less than market value and is much less than the lowest rate shown on lunos graph across the entire day letalone the time that my transaction was concluded..
I am still waiting for Luno to renfund me my bitcoin or pay me the balance of my rands… I will be withdrawing all my money from their account and cautioning everyone I know about Lunos MO when it comes to processing sell orders as this is a Scam!!
Hey Hylton,
I can try to unpack your situation here a bit. Note that your message is in the queue and our agents will respond to you (but sadly, by sending multiple tickets you slow things down). But I understand the frustration.
For clarity (and other readers) there are two ways you can sell (or buy) Bitcoin on Luno.
The first is to use our Buy/Sell functionality in the product. You simply say how much you want to sell (0.6302 BTC in your case) and we display a guaranteed price to you. The “just under R36,000” you mentioned, would have been displayed to you before you accepted the purchase. Note that this is a guaranteed exchange, if you accept it, it goes through. You can learn more about that here: luno.com/help/en/articles/11000020409-instant-buy-or-sell-fees-and-limits
The second way you can sell (or buy) Bitcoin is using the Luno Exchange. On the Exchange, you can set a desired price (you can effectively say: “I want to sell my 0.6302 BTC, but I want to receive R200,000 for it”). That transaction can be placed, but it will only close when a buyer comes around, willing to fork out R200,000 for the BTC. You won’t get charged a fee for that sort of sell, but it isn’t guaranteed (it could take months or years before the price reaches that amount). Here is some more information about the exchange: luno.com/help/en/folders/11000004959
I often get asked “Why is the price different” and I penned an article about the topic here: luno.com/blog/en/post/bitcoin-price-different-different-countries
I’d encourage you (and other readers) to read up as much as possible on how Bitcoin platforms work. It would be sad if you stopped using Luno, but please do your research on other platforms, since most of them work the same way. And we’re really not trying to hide it: the price (when you use Buy/Sell or the Exchange) is shown to you before you accept the transaction.
Don’t hesitate to ask if anything else is unclear.
Hey Hylton.
Had a similar situation. The price of ether was R7000 on the graph and just before i pressed the button it was R11000. I effectively lost almost half the value immediately. All Luno keeps on saying is we dont set the price. Thats rubbish. They connected me to that “Seller” supposedly. No. They took my money. Gave me nothing for it. They are responsible. Lets make this public. Luno does not pay back and dont respond. They are shit.
Hi Marko, I feel your pain. Same happened to me on Black Friday! Just before concluding the purchase they said I was buying at approx R6342 per eth so i expected 20 coins. To my horror i got 15. I cannot believe that their system does not have a built in safety buffer that should the asked price differ more than say 5%, then the transaction should either be deleted or the correct price should be displayed. I feel robbed and can say that this practice is very dishonest. They advertise a safe, fair platform but that is bullshit. I would announce this over a megaphone if I could…..maybe Carte Blanche? Nobody should use Luno, it is a dangerous place. Go to ICE3, they are way better and they actually have customer support. Only drawback is that you can only deposit R75k at a time.
Great suggestion, Adrian. Are you using ICE3? We’d love to get your feedback on our ICE3 review.
Hi Adrian and Marko. The same thing has happened to several of us and a group has formed with the intention of taking action. Can you pm me your email addresses and I will add you to the contingent?
Hi Ethie, stupid question but how do I pm you on this platform? I don’t want to make my email address public. First time I am using this platform so not that familiar with it. I will gladly join an action group.
Greetings Werner*
Truly appreciate your time taken to rectify the tech problems we faced at LUNO..
Now I had problem accessing my LUNO account after many failed attempts yesterday 10th Aug, 2017 midnight. I did not experience this problem before…
Now my LUNO account has been “blocked” after trying many times to access it.. and now its written “RESET 2-FA” whenever I try to sign in.. Kindly help… Urgent!
Hi Teh Lip Wah – note that for security reasons we can’t fix account issues outside of our support channels. Please send an email to support@luno.com (if you haven’t already done so) and our support agents will help you regain access. There has likely been too many login attempts using the wrong information (wrong password or wrong 2FA). Your funds are safe.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ADVICE AND PROMPT REPLY*
HI WERNER*
Its already 4 days and yet no reply from LUNO yet regarding my blocked account…
Kindly help…SOS!
My ticket submitted : ” Ticket Received – [#179538] My LUNO blocked* Urgent! ”
Thank you very much*
I’m really sorry for the delay; our Community Team said that your ticket came in over the weekend (note we only operate during business days) and it is at the front of the queue for resolution. There has been a huge spike in Bitcoin activity and signups and sadly, with the same amount of Community Team members, we are taking longer than we should.
But we’re getting to your ticket, you should receive a reply in the next hour or two already.
Greetings Werner*
Thanks a million as your guys (JOE) at LUNO were professional in handling my blocked account..
Am very satisfied with LUNO service and integrity…
Keep up the good work!
Cheers*
Hi, im anuar, why i buy the bitcoin shon rate is low but when i buy it, its higher than the shown rate.. And why when i sell bitcoin, its cheaper than shown rates? … Why.? Seems the rates is scamed…
Hey Anuar! Note that the price you see on the Price page (luno.com/en/price) is the mid-market price (the middle price, between buyers and sellers). Once you’re comfortable with the platform, you can try out the Luno Exchange (luno.com/trade/). It allows you to set a desired price where you want to buy/sell your Bitcoin – if a seller/buyer comes and closes that transaction, you’ll get exactly your preferred price. Hope this helps.
Good service from Luno.No complaints.Happy with them.
So happy to hear that, Izak. I’ll share your feedback with the team 🙂
It has been 3 days I made a RM 500 transaction from my saving account however I didn’t use the reference code instead I copied paste the luno Malaysia account number
I’m getting very nervous that there’s no reply after they acknowledge the first reply
Also I bought a lot of btc.. I’m seriously having doubt this luno
Attached proof bank in slip as well
Hey Malcolm, please note that due to the error on your side (failure to use the reference code) Luno has to manually apply your deposit to your account. This generally takes a few business days (excluding weekends) to get rectified, if you made the payment from your own bank account. If you’ve reached out to Luno already, it will be handled on a first-in-first-out basis in the coming days.
This is Werner, Head of Marketing at Luno. Thanks a lot for the thorough review, websites like yours are needed to help keep the ecosystem clean.
I’d like to elaborate on the “scam” comments you quoted. Unfortunately, when new customers don’t immediately receive their local currency or bitcoin –due to banking delays, normal operational procedures or Bitcoin network congestion– they usually freak out, thinking that their money got stolen/lost. Note that we have never been hacked or otherwise compromised (but as with any financial company/bitcoin exchange, some customers have been victim of phishing attacks).
We spend most of our time and effort to make sure the platform is safe and secure.
We are a fast-growing company in a combination of established and emerging markets (such as Nigeria, Indonesia, South Africa and Malaysia) and we’re constantly striving to provide the best security and service to our customers. I’d be happy to discuss operations further with the ScamBitcoin editors and looking forward to more Luno reviews by our customers and more ScamBitcoin reviews of other Bitcoin exchanges in the markets highlighted above 🙂
To the moon.
Thanks for the clarification, Werner.
Hi Werner. So I recently bought R14k in BTC. I can honestly say the transfers are quick and conversions are around 30 seconds. There are a few issues I have with the platform but that’s just out of preference and not that there is something wrong with Luno.
Your conversion fees are quite high though and on transferring BTC of 0.3137 it constantly gave me a inefficient funds even though that’s the balance that was indicated in the wallet. Only once I reduced my transfer amount to 0.31369 was it able to transfer my BTC out.
I have considered a lot of other card based system, Wirex, Xapo etc and If your fees become more in line with the general market I might consider moving all my funds to Luno.
All in all not a bad experience … just an expensive one.
Hey HF,
We used to levy a 0.0002 BTC fee for outgoing BTC transactions, but that has since changed to a dynamic fee (luno.com/blog/en/post/dynamic-send-fees).
Note that this fee doesn’t go to Luno: we pay it over to the Bitcoin network. It’s very frustrating for us too, but Bitcoin has been stuck in what’s been dubbed “the great scaling debate”, where transactions have become slow (or expensive).
Here’s some more background on the debate and where we’re currently at: luno.com/blog/en/post/scaling-bitcoin-forks-disruptions
The fees have already gone way down from their peak and as Bitcoin matures and scales, it should go down even more.
Thanks again for the comments!
I have been contacting Luno from different platforms . I withdrew money from my wallet to my Standard bank Account In South Africa , The money is not in my wallet also in my bank account , I went to the bank but they can see nothing . And luno decided to hide you have no telphone numbers . I am worried
Did you ever receive your money into your bank account?
It’s fake I deposit and I didn’t receive anything