Luno Acquires GTXN to Revolutionize Cross-Border Payments in Emerging Markets

Luno has acquired GTXN, a Kenyan cross-border payments firm and fund manager, to bridge the gap between developed and emerging market financial corridors. By integrating licensed payment rails with its existing digital asset liquidity, Luno provides enterprise clients a unified settlement flow, addressing the persistent friction, high costs, and slow speeds inherent in traditional correspondent banking.

What was announced

The acquisition of GTXN, a cross-border payments company and fund manager based in Kenya, provides Luno with the licensed infrastructure necessary to facilitate money movement between developed and emerging economies. This integration is designed specifically for enterprise clients, offering them a single, unified settlement flow for international transactions. By bringing GTXN’s licensed collection and payout capabilities into its existing footprint, Luno aims to solve the inefficiencies of traditional correspondent banking, which is often hampered by slow speeds and high costs in regions where local payment infrastructure is thin.

Dan Kleinbaum has been appointed as the chief executive officer of GTXN to lead this new capability. Kleinbaum’s background includes over a decade of building payments infrastructure in emerging markets, notably co-founding the mobile-money platform Beyonic. GTXN now operates as the group’s dedicated cross-border payments arm, allowing money to move in and out through a single provider. The settlement of these flows is managed against Luno’s established liquidity pools, leveraging the regulatory approvals the platform has secured across its core operating regions over the last ten years. This setup addresses the enterprise demand for more efficient ways to move capital into markets that have historically been difficult to reach through standard financial channels.

"Moving money between developed and emerging markets is still too slow and too expensive, and our clients feel it every day. We have spent years earning the licences and the trust it takes to operate in these corridors, and building the liquidity underneath. GTXN gives us the payment rails to match. Clients get one provider for the whole flow, which is what they have been asking us for."

James Lanigan, chief executive officer of Luno.

The companies involved

Luno is a regulated digital asset platform that has established a significant presence across multiple emerging markets over the last decade. The company focuses on building trust with both banks and enterprise clients by securing regulatory approvals in the regions where it operates. While it is widely known for its retail cryptocurrency services, the platform has increasingly moved toward providing deep liquidity and infrastructure for broader financial applications.

GTXN, also known as gtxn Co., is a Kenyan-based firm specializing in cross-border payments and fund management. The company provides the licensed rails that allow for the legal and technical transfer of funds across international borders, particularly in the East African corridor. Its new chief executive officer, Dan Kleinbaum, is a veteran of the African fintech sector. He previously co-founded Beyonic, a mobile-money platform that expanded across seven African markets before its acquisition in 2020 by Onafriq, which was then known as MFS Africa. Following that acquisition, Kleinbaum developed an FX and cross-border treasury business specifically to serve the needs of corporate and institutional clients in East Africa, experience that directly informs GTXN’s current role within the Luno ecosystem.

What FF News has reported before

Luno has been consistently expanding its utility and user base, particularly in the South African market. FF News recently reported that Discovery Bank Announces Crypto Trading with Luno, New AI Security, Motor Insurance, and New Rewards Partners, marking a significant step into mainstream banking integration. This followed news that More Than Half a Million South Africans Adopted Crypto on Luno in Past Year, highlighting rapid regional growth. Furthermore, the company has focused on real-world spending, enabling users to Spend Crypto at 700,000 Merchants in SA Using Luno Pay. On the product side, Luno Adds Avalanche (AVAX) And Polygon (MATIC) To Its Investment Platform to Expand Its Cryptocurrency Offering, demonstrating a continued commitment to diversifying its asset portfolio.

What this means

This acquisition signals a shift in the digital asset sector away from pure retail speculation toward solving structural problems in global finance. Cross-border payments between developed and emerging markets remain one of the most friction-heavy segments of the industry. By owning both the payment rails and the underlying liquidity, Luno is positioning itself to compete directly with traditional correspondent banking networks. This move puts pressure on legacy providers who have struggled to modernize infrastructure in regions like East Africa. The industry must now consider whether the future of cross-border settlement lies in these hybrid models that combine local licensing with digital asset liquidity to bypass traditional bottlenecks.