Luno Bitcoin Exchange Review

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.

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Withdrawals attract commissions of up to $50 again, depending on the amount to be withdrawn.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.

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. 

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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