Crypto firm Amber Group raises $100m at $1bn valuation

21 Jun 2021

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The Hong Kong company provides crypto trading services to institutional investors and plans to expand into more global markets.

Hong Kong crypto services firm Amber Group is now valued at $1bn after raising $100m from several high-profile investors.

Founded by a group of former Morgan Stanley traders, Amber Group provides algorithmic trading and high-frequency trading in cryptocurrencies for institutional investors.

China Renaissance, an investment bank, led the Series B round with Tiger Global Management, Coinbase Ventures and Blockchain.com participating.

Last year, the company launched a mobile app to broaden its remit and target retail investors as well as institutional investors.

According to the company, it now has $1bn in assets under management and is profitable. But those values can sway depending on current crypto prices.

“We’ve had record months over the past quarter across both client flow and on-exchange market-making volumes,” chief executive Michael Wu said in a statement.

“Since stepping up our on-screen presence, we now account for 2pc to 3pc of total trading volumes in major spot and derivative markets and are continuing to see growth. Our cumulative trading volumes have doubled from $250bn since the beginning of the year to over $500bn.”

While headquartered in Hong Kong, the company also has a presence in Taipei, Seoul and Vancouver. It plans to invest the funds in further internationalisation.

Wu told CNBC that the company would be pursuing acquisitions to obtain talent as well as regulatory clearances in other markets.

Amber raised $28m in a Series A round last year and this Series B investment marks another significant funding round in a crypto firm led by traditional investors.

Tiger Global, which participated in this round, has been particularly active in the space of late, leading a $250m round in Mexican cryptocurrency exchange Bitso as well as investments in India’s CoinSwitch Kuber and crypto asset manager Babel.

Coinbase’s recent IPO was a watershed moment for crypto in the mainstream, while PayPal has doubled down heavily on crypto services.

Jonathan Keane is a freelance business and technology journalist based in Dublin

editorial@siliconrepublic.com