Luno Nigeria to offer derivates in ‘all-in-one’ investment strategy push

Luno Nigeria, the subsidiary of the UK-born cryptocurrency company operating in four African countries, plans to offer perpetuals trading and may introduce futures products in 2026, Country Manager and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ayotunde Alabi told TechCabal in an interview.

The move is part of Luno’s effort to position itself as an “all-in-one investment app” for Nigerian users.

Perpetuals and futures are types of derivatives. They are financial contracts that let traders speculate on the future price of an asset without owning it directly. In crypto markets, these products allow users to potentially profit from price movements in currencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, commodities, and even stocks, but they also carry higher risk than regular buying and holding.

Luno, one of the longest-operating crypto platforms in Nigeria, is expanding beyond basic buy-and-sell crypto services into staking, tokenised stocks, and other investment products.

“We want to be an all-in-one investment app for customers that is woven into the everyday investment life cycle of our customers,” said Alabi. “And that’s what has informed a number of [products] that we launched in Nigeria last year.”

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

Luno’s broader product push comes as competition intensifies from both local exchanges and offshore platforms serving Nigerian users. Busha, a Nigerian crypto startup, has rebranded itself as a broader financial platform and plans to offer crypto asset-backed lending, card payments, and other investment products in the coming months, aiming to attract a wider audience beyond core crypto users.

Roqqu, another Nigerian crypto startup, launched futures trading in December 2025 to expand its derivatives offerings.

By combining crypto, tokenised equities, and derivatives in a single app, Luno Nigeria is betting that a wider product range and the perception of safety will help it stand out in a crowded market.

In July 2025, Luno launched staking services, allowing users to earn yield on certain digital assets. It was part of the company’s plan to expand beyond crypto trading and offer a broader range of financial services.

“We launched staking to deliver more value to our customers, because beyond price movement and speculation, we wanted assets that can deliver value regardless of the price action of the assets,” said Alabi. “We launched a staking product for a token that delivered about 15% APY [annual percentage yield] regardless of the price.”

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Later in August, Luno launched tokenised US stocks in South Africa, and Nigeria one month later, enabling users to move from crypto, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, into equities within the same app. 

The product saw early traction, drawing 10,000 users in South Africa in its first month, with Nigerian retail investors making up about 15% of the year-end total of 30,000 users, according to Alabi.

The company said it is positioning itself as a more conservative operator in Nigeria’s volatile crypto market, focusing on listing assets it believes meet stricter internal risk criteria rather than chasing highly speculative meme tokens.

“We only list tokens that are backed by real-world utilities,” said Alabi. “[We’re looking out for] the backers, the liquidity, and [how] the coin aligns with all our risk criteria, making sure that if we launch a coin, or make these coins available for our customers, then there’s a reduced chance of them losing their assets.”

For 2026, Alabi said the focus will be on consolidating recently launched products while expanding into new segments of the market.