Digital asset exchange Luno announced that its Chief Operating Officer James Lanigan who has been with the company for five years will now serve as its CEO.

Meanwhile, Co-founder and existing Chief Executive Officer Marcus Swanepoel will be moving into a new role as Executive Chairman.

Following the transition, Luno said that Marcus will continue to work closely with James to particularly focus on broadening its investor base to support the company’s next stage of growth.

James had been instrumental in building Luno’s local teams throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia Pacific, while also growing its product portfolio.

As Luno’s COO, James oversaw the operations, commercial, countries, product, marketing, and customer success departments.

Prior to joining Luno in 2018, James held senior commercial, operational and marketing roles across multiple industries, most recently as the Chief Marketing Officer at Bookatable – now TheFork, a global online restaurant reservation platform acquired by Michelin in 2016.

“Co-founding and serving as the CEO of Luno for the past ten years has been the greatest honour of my career and I’m excited for our next chapter as we continue to put the power of crypto in everyone’s hands.

 

I have the utmost confidence that James will continue to deepen our trust with customers and key stakeholders alike, driving both Luno’s business and the industry forward.”

said Marcus.

“It has been a privilege to serve alongside a founder and leader as strong as Marcus, who cares so deeply about making a positive impact for our customers and employees.

 

I’m passionate about continuing to help Luno build the products and services that guide our customers in a responsible way along every step of their crypto journey, while maintaining our dedication to trust, security and compliance.”

James added.