Luno’s statement on the recent Central Bank of Nigeria circular (UPDATED) Team Luno

In light of the recent circular from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) advising financial institutions to close bank accounts held by cryptocurrency service providers, Luno has been forced to disable all Naira withdrawals and deposits.

We’re very sorry that we weren’t able to inform you of this in advance, but we did not receive the prior warning that we needed from our payment partners. If you’ve already requested a withdrawal, we unfortunately cannot guarantee that it will be processed. If it is not processed, it will be returned to your wallet.

Please be assured that your funds are completely safe and we are working hard to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. This is an ongoing situation, so please check the status page for updates. We’ll keep you informed of all incoming developments as soon as we receive further information.

There are two options you can take at this point:

Store and trade your cryptocurrency with Luno until the situation is resolved. You can continue to use all your account features as normal, with the exception of depositing and withdrawing Naira. If you’re concerned about the volatility of your cryptocurrency, you can move your cryptocurrency into USDC.
Send your cryptocurrency to a different wallet address. You can still send your cryptocurrency to wallets on other platforms. However, we would strongly recommend that you do not send your cryptocurrency to strangers offering to withdraw your cryptocurrency for you, as they may be trying to scam you.

Luno has always worked closely with regulators in Africa and all regions in which we operate, and will continue working with the CBN and others to find a solution. Nigeria’s regulators have taken a pragmatic and forward-looking approach to cryptocurrency in the past and we’re confident that this issue can be resolved quickly, so that Nigeria can continue to play a central role in the growth of cryptocurrency.