Luno Nigeria strikes past crypto buying and selling with derivatives push

Luno Nigeria, the subsidiary of the UK-born cryptocurrency firm working in 4 African international locations, plans to supply perpetuals buying and selling and should introduce futures merchandise in 2026, Nation Supervisor and Chief Government Officer (CEO) Ayotunde Alabi informed TechCabal in an interview.

The transfer is a part of Luno’s effort to place itself as an “all-in-one funding app” for Nigerian customers.

Perpetuals and futures are sorts of derivatives. They’re monetary contracts that allow merchants speculate on the longer term worth of an asset with out proudly owning it immediately. In crypto markets, these merchandise permit customers to doubtlessly revenue from worth actions in currencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, commodities, and even shares, however in addition they carry increased threat than common shopping for and holding.

Luno, one of many longest-operating crypto platforms in Nigeria, is increasing past fundamental buy-and-sell crypto companies into staking, tokenised shares, and different funding merchandise.

“We need to be an all-in-one funding app for patrons that’s woven into the on a regular basis funding life cycle of our clients,” mentioned Alabi. “And that’s what has knowledgeable a lot of [products] that we launched in Nigeria final yr.”

He added that Luno Nigeria plans to launch about three “game-changing merchandise” in Q1 2026.

Luno’s broader product push comes as competitors intensifies from each native exchanges and offshore platforms serving Nigerian customers. Busha, a Nigerian crypto startup, has rebranded itself as a broader monetary platform and plans to supply crypto asset-backed lending, card funds, and different funding merchandise within the coming months, aiming to draw a wider viewers past core crypto customers.

Roqqu, one other Nigerian crypto startup, launched futures buying and selling in December 2025 to increase its derivatives choices.

By combining crypto, tokenised equities, and derivatives in a single app, Luno Nigeria is betting {that a} wider product vary and the notion of security will assist it stand out in a crowded market.

In July 2025, Luno launched staking companies, permitting customers to earn yield on sure digital property. It was a part of the corporate’s plan to increase past crypto buying and selling and provide a broader vary of economic companies.

“We launched staking to ship extra worth to our clients, as a result of past worth motion and hypothesis, we wished property that may ship worth whatever the worth motion of the property,” mentioned Alabi. “We launched a staking product for a token that delivered about 15% APY [annual percentage yield] whatever the worth.”

Later in August, Luno launched tokenised US shares in South Africa, and Nigeria one month later, enabling customers to maneuver from crypto, reminiscent of Bitcoin and Ethereum, into equities inside the similar app. 

The product noticed early traction, drawing 10,000 customers in South Africa in its first month, with Nigerian retail traders making up about 15% of the year-end complete of 30,000 customers, based on Alabi.

The corporate mentioned it’s positioning itself as a extra conservative operator in Nigeria’s risky crypto market, specializing in itemizing property it believes meet stricter inside threat standards slightly than chasing extremely speculative meme tokens.

“We solely checklist tokens which are backed by real-world utilities,” mentioned Alabi. “[We’re looking out for] the backers, the liquidity, and [how] the coin aligns with all our threat standards, ensuring that if we launch a coin, or make these cash out there for our clients, then there’s a lowered likelihood of them shedding their property.”

For 2026, Alabi mentioned the main target will likely be on consolidating not too long ago launched merchandise whereas increasing into new segments of the market.