Crypto platform Luno has stopped customers covered by its regional-exit notice from sending their crypto to another wallet or exchange. With that option closed, their remaining standard route is to sell their holdings and withdraw the cash to a bank by Aug. 31 before Luno closes their accounts on Sept. 1.
Restrictions began June 1, when Luno disabled deposits, crypto purchases and incoming crypto for affected customers. Selling, bank withdrawals and outgoing crypto transfers remained available until June 29. Customers who missed that send deadline can no longer preserve their holdings by moving them in kind. They must convert the assets to fiat to use Luno’s ordinary bank-withdrawal process.
Luno has not publicly named the affected regions or disclosed how many customers received the notice. A separate country availability page currently lists Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia as supported, and a list of 33 ‘unsupported countries,’ leaving hundreds of unaddressed locales. The regional-exit guidance was created May 28 and updated July 29, without a public record showing which passages changed.
Funds left behind face rising costs
Balances below the equivalent of $10 cannot be processed under Luno’s minimum withdrawal threshold. The company says it will retain those small balances after Sept. 1. Customers who leave more than $10 can seek a manual withdrawal after closure, but they must contact support and provide verified bank details or a recent bank statement. Luno says a completed manual withdrawal takes three to five business days.
Manual withdrawals do not extend ordinary account access. Selling and standard bank withdrawals stop after Aug. 31, and wallet access ends the following day. Customers with less than $10 do not qualify for the manual process described in the notice, while those above the threshold must complete the additional verification steps.
Fees begin as the accounts close. The notice says remaining funds can face a $2 monthly inactivity fee starting in September. From December, an additional $50 monthly dormancy fee applies for continued storage, taking the stated charges to $52 a month while funds remain. Luno has not publicly confirmed whether the exact schedule varies among the unnamed affected jurisdictions.
Luno said it is withdrawing from the affected regions to focus on core markets across Africa and Southeast Asia. The company has not linked the decision to insolvency, a security breach or a specific regulatory order. Customers covered by the notice have already lost the option to leave with crypto, and the ordinary cash-out route closes Aug. 31.
The post Luno blocks crypto transfers for some users, leaving a late August cash-out deadline before monthly fees hit appeared first on CryptoSlate.
