Luno customers in affected European markets must sell crypto and withdraw euros by 31 Aug 2026; remaining balances then face monthly fees of up to $52.
Luno customers in affected European markets have until 31 August 2026 to sell their crypto and withdraw the euro proceeds. From 1 September the accounts close, and any balance left behind starts accruing monthly fees: $2 from September, then $50 on top from December, for a combined charge of up to $52 a month. The one route that would have avoided a sale, moving coins to an external wallet, has been closed since 29 June.
The wind-down has been staged, and the remaining path is narrow. Sell everything and transfer the euros to a bank account in your own name; buy back at a licensed provider afterwards. That means time out of the market and fees on both legs. Some customers also face a taxable event. The deadlines come from Luno's customer communications, and the fee figures were reported by CryptoSlate and crypto.news on 3 August 2026; both publications carried updates on 8 August.
Outgoing crypto transfers at Luno stopped on 29 June 2026. Anyone who wanted to keep bitcoin or ether had to move those coins before that date. Since then, the only request that works is a sale into euros and a withdrawal to a bank account. Check the IBAN on file before starting. An outdated bank connection is the most common reason withdrawals sit in review, and the calendar leaves little room for corrections.
Sell every position, including small balances in minor tokens. Crypto still in the account on 1 September can no longer be traded. Balances below the equivalent of $10 will not be paid out, according to the trade press. Start the euro withdrawal and confirm the money has reached your bank before the deadline. Customers who miss 31 August can still retrieve funds through support, with a bank statement no older than three months. The process is slower, and the monthly fees begin in September.
The fee schedule erodes a residual balance quickly. At the combined monthly charge, a €200 balance lasts roughly four months, based on the fee levels in the 3 August reports. Luno has not publicly named the affected countries, so customers should check the app notices. If the notices are visible in your account, the deadline applies to you.
The EU's MiCA regulation ended its transition period on 1 July 2026. From that point, any firm serving clients in the European Economic Area needs authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider. ESMA, the EU securities regulator, keeps a public register of authorisations. The file retrieved on 8 August 2026 listed 329 authorisations. Luno appeared neither among the licensed firms nor among those reported as non-compliant.
Luno does not publicly attribute the wind-down to regulation. The company says it wants to concentrate on Africa and South East Asia, naming Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia. Trade press coverage has noted several other international platforms left the region around the same cut-off.
Anyone planning to re-enter the market after the forced sale should look the new provider up in the ESMA register first. Four widely used alternatives appear in the file: Kraken, listed under its legal entity Payward; Coinbase; Bitstamp; and Binance, which holds MiCA approval in some countries. One detail helps when searching. The register names the legal entity, not the brand, so compare the provider's legal notice with its register entry before funding an account.
A forced sale counts as an ordinary sale for tax purposes, and the treatment depends on the country of residence. In Germany, gains on privately held crypto are tax free once the holding period exceeds one year. Coins held for less than a year produce taxable gains once all private sales gains in the calendar year exceed €1,000. Selling because of the Luno deadline forfeits that exemption, and the holding period restarts when the coins are bought back elsewhere. Other member states draw the lines differently.
Export the full transaction history from Luno while access still works. After 1 September, reconstructing acquisition dates and prices becomes harder, and the records will be needed for a tax return. This is not tax advice.
The deadlines spell out the consequence for Luno customers. Outgoing transfers stopped on 29 June. The sale window closes on 31 August; fees begin in September.
Disclosure: some providers named in this article work with AlphaScala through partner programmes. The licensing assessment in this article comes from the public ESMA file. Luno is not a partner. As of 8 August 2026, deadlines and fees can change; Luno's customer guidance is binding. This is not investment or tax advice.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.