As single bros everywhere speak about Bitcoin this and Bitcoin that, so too did many get the basic idea of what financial trading entails.

You see, something about trading cryptocurrencies has helped us understand what it means to buy and sell in the hopes of making some cash.

And the one app that has made it all so much easier is Luno.

It was the first company in Africa to offer cryptocurrency trading, and grown at a remarkable rate since its launch. Get this – Luno now has over 1,5 million customers in 40 countries.

But that’s not what the company’s CEO and cofounder, Marcus Swanepoel, had planned at the beginning.

At first, Luno’s target was actually banks. Before long, however, Swanepoel and his team realised that banks just weren’t going to cut it, as they weren’t too keen on adopting the technology just yet.

They made the decision to switch to consumers instead and now, five years later, and Luno is expecting to increase its membership to one billion users by 2025, reports CNN.

And that shouldn’t be too difficult: Luno has developed the most user friendly and efficient platform that hosts a mobile wallet, exchange and merchant integration service all in one, and is used for both Bitcoin and one of its biggest rivals, Ethereum.

Although headquartered in London, Luno attributes its early success to its South African roots, as well as experience in Nigeria:

“Unlike other companies, because we set up in Africa originally, we built truly mobile-first products,” Swanepoel said. He believes that has given Luno an edge, particularly over European competitors.

Banks taught them some important lessons, too. Financial institutions have to comply with rules and regulations designed to protect consumers and ensure there’s a base of trust.

But without regulation, Luno has to build its own trust, which is a massive reason why they haven’t adopted more than the current two cryptocurrencies.

Speaking to HTXT, Swanepoel explained on their reasoning::

“The way our system is set up we could add many new cryptocurrencies all at once. We could triple our revenue if we just added 20 different coins but what we’re trying to do is build a trusted brand,” the co-founder tells us.

“People can come to us and learn more about this technology. We’re not trying to rip people off, we’re trying to look after them. I could say that “Oh I can’t tell you what to do with your money” but I don’t think that’s right because most people don’t actually know what they’re doing,” Swanepoel says.

“It’s important for us to curate currencies because people could potentially lose a lot if a currency is found to be a scam and we don’t want to be responsible for that.

“Sometimes we do make a mistake in the other direction and support a currency too late but I’d rather err on the side of caution,” adds Swanepoel.

Nothing like a bit of honesty – but as they accept more trading options, so too will their customer base grow.

If you have used Luno’s mobile app, you know what we’re talking about: it’s simple, effective and lays everything out in the simplest form.

If you’re new to the whole crypto trading thing, it’s perfect.

[source: cnn&htxt]