Amber Group trims staff and operating costs amid crypto winter
Amber Group terminated sponsorship agreement with the Chelsea football club for £20m ($25m) and announced a 40% staff cut.
Amber said less than 10 per cent of its trading capital was stuck on FTX. It will stop retail operations and terminate a sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC. Amber completed the financing plan of $50m out of the original plan of 100m. Staff cut from 700 to 400. https://t.co/muW69gXNZM
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) December 9, 2022
In September, Amber carried out the first round of personnel optimization.
The management plans to relocate the Hong Kong team to a simpler office, consider closing several small regional offices as part of cost-cutting measures amid the crypto winter.
On November 9, Annabelle Huang said that about 10% of trading capital was “stuck” on the bankrupt exchange FTX.
In an interview with the Financial Times, she spoke out against “predatory and misinformed” speculation regarding Amber Group’s resilience.
There are no disruptions to daily operations, explained Huang.
Users of the platform continue to make deposits, withdraw funds and trade as usual, a Bloomberg source confirmed.
According to sources The Block, Amber Group owes about $130 million to co-founder and CEO of the crypto-lending platform Vauld Darshan Bathija. Representatives of the parties did not comment on this information.
At the same time Amber announced to the publication that the company lost several top executives: Angie Beiler, head of US corporate sales; Razzi, CEO of the US unit; and Dimitrios Kavvatas, CEO of MENA, and others.
The company has abandoned plans to expand its business in the US and Europe.
The initial plan to raise $100m has so far only been partially realized. It was paused to assess the consequences of the FTX collapse.
It was expected that Amber Group would maintain a $3 billion valuation. In the spring, Bloomberg sources reported management’s plans to reach a $10 billion figure.
The firm is considering launching a new round of funding, according to FT sources. Huang urged not to regard this as a “failure,” as the platform is “not under pressure to raise capital.”
As reported on November 25, Amber Group announced the death of a co-founder.
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