Luno Acquires Kenya’s GTXN to Add Licensed Payment Rails

In Short

• Luno has acquired GTXN, a Kenyan cross-border payments provider.
• The deal gives Luno regulated rails to collect and pay out funds for enterprise transfers.
• GTXN will run as Luno’s cross-border payments arm, and founder Dan Kleinbaum stays on as CEO.

What Happened

Luno has acquired Kenyan fintech GTXN to bring cross-border payments infrastructure in-house. Luno is best known as a crypto exchange, but the acquisition is aimed at traditional enterprise money movement, not only retail crypto trading.

GTXN operates licensed “rails,” meaning the regulated systems that move money from collection to payout. With these rails, Luno can settle transfers directly instead of relying on correspondent banking, which is the common model where money passes through multiple intermediary banks.

Correspondent banking often adds delays, extra foreign exchange conversions, and layered fees. Compliance checks can also vary by intermediary, which can slow down transfers further.

GTXN is also licensed by Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority as a fund manager. That licensing matters because it provides a clearer regulatory route for handling certain institutional flows and treasury-style foreign exchange services.

Why It Matters

Cross-border payments are still a pain point for African businesses that pay international suppliers, move funds between subsidiaries, or collect revenue across markets. Owning licensed payment rails can help Luno offer faster settlement, more predictable fees, and tighter control over liquidity, which is the cash and stable assets needed to complete transfers.

The acquisition also fits a wider trend where crypto companies pursue regulated payments infrastructure to serve institutions. It can reduce reliance on bank partners and make it easier to build business-to-business products that look more like treasury and settlement services than consumer crypto apps.

For East Africa, this deal is another signal that regulated payments and FX infrastructure is becoming a strategic asset, especially as stablecoins and enterprise settlement use cases grow.