Cryptoverse Gets Another Unicorn Despite Market Downturn

Venture capitalists are still pouring hundreds of millions into the infrastructure of the cryptoverse, hoping the whole nascent industry will grow further despite a recent sharp correction in the market.

Amber Group (AG), an Asian crypto trading and technology firm, is now the latest example of this trend and the latest crypto unicorn, or the company that reached USD 1bn pre-money valuation. It happened after AG raised USD 100m in Series B funding, led by China Renaissance, with participation from Tiger Brokers, Tiger Global Management, and other new investors. Its existing investors, such as Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Blockchain.com have also joined the round.

In 2019, AG said it raised USD 28m at a USD 100m valuation.

The company now has its offices in Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, and Vancouver, and plans to expand its global operations, develop new, unspecified “market solutions.”

According to Michael Wu, Co-Founder and CEO of Amber Group, the company now accounts for 2%-3% of total trading volumes in spot and derivative market while their cumulative trading volumes have doubled from USD 250bn since the beginning of the year to over USD 500bn.

“We have been profitable since inception, and with growing revenues across all business lines, we are now annualizing USD 500m in revenues based on January to April 2021 figures,” Wu was quoted as saying in an announcement.

Founded in 2017, Amber Group offers both institutions and retail investors principal algorithmic trading, electronic market-making, high-frequency trading, over-the-counter trading, borrowing and lending, derivatives, and other structured products. The company claims it has more than 100,000 registered users of its Amber App, launched in Q3 2020.

The company says it has over 330 employees and, in the coming months, AG will be announcing further additions to its team, coming mainly from technology and traditional finance companies such as banks and market-making firms.
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