Starting October 2026, we’ll be upgrading the Luno Exchange to a faster, more reliable trading engine. This upgrade will reduce delays, improve execution speed and lay the groundwork for future Exchange features.
What to expect
We will migrate batches of trading pairs to the upgraded architecture in spaced-apart intervals, leaving enough time between each upgrade window to monitor and test everything is running smoothly.
When each specific trading pair migrates, the following will happen:
- The affected market will close for approximately one hour.
- All open orders will be cancelled during the migration, so you’ll need to re-enter your limit orders once the market reopens.
- The new market will then open in a post-only mode for 15 minutes to allow customers to open new positions, after which normal trading will resume on the new engine.
Key changes to be aware of
- You'll need to transfer funds to dedicated trading wallets to place orders on the migrated markets.
- Fees will be deducted differently. Percentages remain unchanged, but the asset used to pay the fee will depend on whether you're buying or selling.
- Market parameters will be adjusted – take note if you trade via API.
When is this happening?
To ensure a smooth transition, we are rolling this out in batches by region starting October 2026. We will leave enough time between each batch to fully test and monitor before moving on to the next batch.
Here is the planned timeline of events. Specific dates may change, in which case we'll update this table.
| Planned date | Regions | Markets upgraded |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, 19 October | Kenya and Uganda | KES pairs, UGX pairs |
| Thur, 22 October | Indonesia | IDR pairs |
| Mon, 9 November | Nigeria and South Africa | NGN pairs, ZAR pairs |
| Mon, 23 November | Malaysia | MYR pairs |
| Mon, 30 November | Global | Crypto-to-crypto pairs |
Note
You'll receive notice via email and push notification at least 48 hours before your markets are impacted, so there’s time to manage your positions ahead of the window.
Benefits of the upgrade
The new engine focuses on speed and precision. By moving to this high-performance system, you’ll benefit from:
- Reduced latency: we're making order execution 15× faster, reducing from ~150ms to under 10ms
- Improved price certainty, especially under volatile conditions: when the market moves fast, the gap between the price you see and the price you get widens. Our new exchange narrows that gap, which matters most during volatility due to market news, liquidations, and sharp price moves
- Deeper liquidity: By increasing the speed and reliability of our engine, we make it easier for liquidity providers to connect to Luno. This results in deeper order books and tighter spreads, which can reduce your trading costs
- Higher reliability under load: purpose-built architecture handles trading volume spikes without degrading order execution
- World-class speed, on an exchange you can trust: get the performance of a top-tier global venue without giving up the safety of a regulated, local platform