Amber Group cancels annual bonuses and cuts management salaries

The cryptocurrency platform Amber Group canceled annual bonuses for employees due to slow business growth and industry uncertainty, Bloomberg reports.

The company began taking cost-cutting measures since June, including workforce optimization and lowering management salaries, CEO Michael Wu confirmed.

“Even before the FTX collapse, we were preparing for a potentially prolonged crypto-winter,” he said.

According to Bloomberg, the Singapore-based firm plans to cut staff to fewer than 400 workers from a peak of 1,100 at the start of the year.

Amber terminated the sponsorship contract with Chelsea Football Club and suspended a financing round of $100 million.

The company previously stated that less than 10% of its working capital was frozen the FTX collapse. Management assured that this does not affect the platform’s operations.

The Singapore-based crypto-trading company Paradigm Connect Asia, also headquartered in Singapore, said it would cut employees’ salaries by 15%. The firm described this as an alternative to layoffs and linked it directly to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s business empire Sam Bankman-Fried.

1/ We made the difficult decision to cut salaries across the board by 15% this week 😢

Post FTX’s collapse, it is clear the contagion is deep and wide and like many of our clients and peers, we are not immune

— Paradigm (@tradeparadigm) December 14, 2022

“After the FTX collapse, it is clear that contagion is deep and wide, and like many of our clients and peers, we are not insulated,” the statement said.

The company says the move will help mobilize financial resources and weather turbulent times for the industry.

Earlier in November, Singapore’s Parliament held hearings on the potential impact of the FTX collapse on the economy.

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