Crypto exchange Luno is cutting about 20% of its global workforce as part of a restructuring confirmed on July 28 by Chief Executive James Lanigan.
Summary
- Luno is cutting 20% of its global workforce while expanding institutional and business-to-business services worldwide.
- Twelve crypto-related companies reported July restructurings, with 894 disclosed jobs affected across six named reductions.
- Gnosis reduced its consumer app team and plans an independent structure beginning during third quarter.
The Digital Currency Group-owned company will reduce costs while directing more resources toward institutional customers and its business-to-business unit.
Lanigan did not disclose the number of employees affected or identify the regions and departments included. He said investments in automation and wider operational changes had altered the resources required to run the exchange.
Luno layoffs support an institutional shift
Luno plans to continue investing in compliance, core infrastructure and selected retail products while scaling services for other businesses. Its institutional platform offers liquidity and trading infrastructure for professional clients. The company’s website currently says it serves 15 million customers worldwide.
Lanigan said a “leaner and adapted structure is both necessary and appropriate.” That statement represents management’s assessment rather than a verified financial outcome. Luno has not published projected savings, restructuring charges or a completion date for the workforce reduction.
The latest cuts are smaller than Luno’s January 2023 retrenchment. At the time, the exchange officially announced a 35% reduction across all regions as the crypto downturn weakened growth and revenue. Contemporary reporting estimated that more than 330 roles were affected from a workforce of roughly 960.
July crypto layoffs reached at least 12 companies
The CryptoJobsList tracker listed 12 crypto or crypto-adjacent companies with July-dated cuts or restructurings. They included Luno, Gnosis, Uphold, BitMart, Dango, Odos, BitMEX, Exodus, Polygon Labs, AscendEX, Zapper and Yield Guild Games.
Adding the published figures for six of those companies gives 894 affected jobs. The tracker listed 550 at BitMart, 160 at BitMEX, 85 at Uphold, 54 at Exodus, 35 at Yield Guild Games and 10 at Odos. However, the figure remains incomplete because Luno, Gnosis and several other companies did not disclose exact totals.
CryptoJobsList recorded more than 7,254 disclosed cuts across 47 companies during 2026 and identified market conditions as the most frequently cited reason. However, the tracker relies on public announcements and media reports. It also includes fintech and crypto-adjacent businesses, making it a broad indicator rather than an audited industry total.
Gnosis also confirmed workforce reductions in its second-quarter report, published on July 17. Co-founder Friederike Ernst said the organization had reduced the Gnosis App team after deciding that “growth has been linear, and linear is not good enough” for a consumer product.
The organization plans to remove Gnosis App from Gnosis Ltd during the third quarter. A smaller team is expected to seek decentralized autonomous organization funding for an independent company. The proposal’s outcome and final staffing level remain unconfirmed.
Gnosis reported that the app had about 800 active card users in the second quarter, up from roughly 500 in the first quarter. Daily and weekly active users also increased. Still, management said the product required a smaller structure and faster decision-making outside the wider Gnosis organization.
Automation and payments reshape crypto staffing
The July reductions follow several firms that linked workforce changes to new business priorities. BitGo cut nearly 15% of its workforce in June while focusing resources on security, stablecoins, settlement and artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
Additionaly, Exodus cut 25% of its workforce while integrating Monavate and Baanx into a stablecoin payments and card platform. Its SEC filing said about 77 employees and individual service providers would be affected, with projected annual cash savings of $10 million to $13 million.
Luno has not announced comparable savings targets. The next verified updates may come through company statements, employee consultation processes or changes to its institutional services. Until then, the 20% figure remains the clearest measure of the restructuring, while the absolute number of affected workers remains unknown.
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