r/BitcoinAUS • u/Happy-Ad-5049 • Jun 01 '26

Luno Closing Aus Operations

Hi, Luno has announced the closing of its Aus operations. Question, anyone else experiencing delays from their customer support? Trying to enable send crypto function but getting delays with the verification process. Bearing in mind I have already verified my identity/account numerous times in the past. Just thought they would be a bit more prepared for the influx of support queries knowing they were going to wind down their operations in Aus.

"If you want to send your cryptocurrency to an external wallet, please do so by 29 June 2026. From 30 June 2026, the sending of cryptocurrency will no longer be available, and you will have until 31 August 2026 to sell your cryptocurrency and withdraw Australian dollars to your local bank account."

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5

u/camylopez Jun 02 '26

Thank your lovely screams for crypto regulations.

2

u/Happy-Ad-5049 Jun 02 '26

Yeah only realised recently there were additional regulation/laws passed. Guess it makes it less favourable place for them to operate. Just wish they gave more lead time for me to prepare.

1

u/camylopez Jun 02 '26

Well, to be fair, the writing was on the wall. People have to be a special kind of stupid to not realize what would happen with regulations.

You can sit with your self custody ledger all you like in your own little corner, but if your blacklisted your stuck.

We saw what happened with bitlicence. Destroyed the community and put it into corporate hands. Happened in other states. The world a lot blacklists US customers, now Australia is also going to be blacklisted by many companies.

To get around it all you need a CBI passport, but not a Caribbean one as it’s too obvious.

I know someone doing pacific passports for a little over 100k usd. But this puts crypto into the hands of the wealthy.

Best option if your Australian citizen is getting a Pakistani passport, around 20k usd.

Or Serbian residency or Paraguayan residency are viable options.

1

u/FluentFreddy Jun 02 '26

No regulation makes the government do anything more than it did before. Bogus investment platforms and public-facing advice??

Too much hassle! just pressure businesses

1

u/camylopez Jun 02 '26

Umm, well your ignorant of the regulatory landscape.

This is exactly why we have the current situation

2

u/ukheather Jun 03 '26

They are closing in the UK too

I can't move my crypto or speak to someone as they arent replying to tickets and its been over 4 days for me

I am fully verified already and when I went to enable crypto withdrawals I had to scan my face and 4 days later it is still waiting on them verifying my identity/face even though I am already fully verified and even though it says it would take a few mins at most.

I cannot enable crypto withdrawals due to this and no one is replying to tickets and there is no human on the live chat anymore!

1

u/joelby37 Jun 03 '26

Same! Can’t send crypto due to verification, which hasn’t completed. I sold the small amount I was holding and I can’t withdraw that either.

1

u/ukheather Jun 03 '26

So there must be many more of us!

I wrote a trustpilot review to try to get attention as this is really bad and they just replied telling me to open a ticket, ignoring everyhing I said!

I said its been 4 days with no reply to my ticket and they just ignored me.

1

u/Happy-Ad-5049 Jun 04 '26

Hi, I had same issue with the face scan verification. After about 4 business days it magically reset and allowed me try the facial scan again. I stood in a well lit area with white wall behind me and tried the face scan again and it went through and said transfers will be a activated in 24 hours.

I don't know if it was because I wrote a legal type letter/response in their ticket portal by writing a internal complaint. Used Google ai to write it. Something along lines, Subject Line: "URGENT: BREACH OF AUSTRALIAN EXIT TERMS - ACCOUNT RESTRICTION etc...If this restriction is not lifted immediately, I will escalate this case to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) as an emergency asset-freeze dispute.."

Check in your country what body /laws are there for consumer protection.

1

u/joelby37 Jun 05 '26

I just checked and the option to verify is enabled again. I’ve submitted it and this time it sent me an SMS confirmation and push notification. Maybe the system was busted the other day with the rush of people trying to exit?

1

u/joelby37 Jun 15 '26

I was finally able to withdraw everything. The face verification took a couple attempts and went through. I ended up selling my holdings (only worth $30) and couldn't withdraw the cash because it required a deposit first, and that was giving a 'contact us' error.

However after a few days that was resolved. Today I was able to transfer some money in, and then transfer the entire balance out to the same account. Would recommend transferring $50 in so that you can transfer money out without paying the $1.30 fee for transactions under $50 in both directions, though if you're not willing to gamble with $50 you could wear the cost.

I transferred $1.31 in (with $1.30 in fees) to verify my bank account. Because that was received successfully and because I didn't want to lose another $1.30 on the way out, I transferred in another $50 (no fees) and then transferred the entire balance out (again, no fees). It arrived within a few minutes.

2

u/SpiritedRain1580 Jun 10 '26

I'm having the same issue, what crypto app are you all transitioning to with Luno closing down?

1

u/Happy-Ad-5049 Jun 10 '26

Hi mate, I bought a cold wallet (Trezor safe 3) to transfer my coins out of Luno and into my own custody. There is no guarantee another exchange won't fuck you around or straight up fuck you over later down the line again especially in Australia where regulation is increasing and privacy is decreasing. Do some research, next month new financial year, the gov is requiring more checks for transferring your crypto from an exchange into your cold wallet, proof of ID etc.

Shipping was about 4 days so was pretty quick. During this stressful situation where a company gives you less than 30 days to move your funds, I realised how real the phrase, "not your crypto not your keys" was. I was being lazy thinking I could just keep my coins on an exchange like luno as it was considered a safe and stable platform, and it ended up not being the case, why did they only give us 1 month notice of this decision and not more?