Crypto Trading Firm Amber Group Raises $300M In Series C Funding Amid Crypto Slump

Amid a crypto market slump exacerbated by the collapse of FTX FTT/USD and the subsequent arrest of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, crypto trading firm Amber Group on Friday announced it had modified its fundraising strategy and raised $300 million in a Series C raise.

Fenbushi Capital U.S. with other cryptocurrency investors led the round, the company stated.

According to data aggregator Crunchbase, Temasek, Sequoia Capital China and Coinbase Ventures have all made prior investments in Amber Group.

Amber Group tweeted on Friday that certain products "would have experienced significant drawdowns as an aftermath of the FTX default" unless they could find better ways to protect customers, even though less than 10% of Amber Group's trading capital was with the defunct FTX when it imploded.

The trading company made the decision to pursue a Series C instead of continuing its efforts to secure a Series B+ round at a $3 billion value.

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After a partial close on the series B+ campaign, Amber Group said, "Post the FTX collapse, we paused [the series B+ fundraise] after a partial closing and instead moved forward on Series C."

Following the FTX collapse, Amber Group reportedly let go of 300 people, or 40% of its workforce, curtailed employee perks and canceled a $25 million sponsorship arrangement with Chelsea Football Club.

Amber Group conceded in its statement that it had to let go of several employees as the company scaled down its "mass consumer efforts and non-essential business lines."

The Series C investors "came on board" understanding the firm would be "laser-focused."

Interestingly, Amber Group was also making purchases at the same time the layoffs were announced.

The crypto trading firm reportedly purchased a Singapore-licensed cryptocurrency platform, Sparrow Exchange.

Several companies, including major ones like Bybit, have reduced their personnel headcount due to the prolonged market downturn.

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Photo: retrorocket via Shutterstock