By
Mayowa Adebajo
April 11th, 2024
Amber Group has halted its sponsorship deal with Chelsea and is looking to downsize its workforce as the crypto winter bites hard.
Amber Group has reportedly terminated its $25 million sponsorship deal with Premier League football club Chelsea FC. The Singapore-based crypto trading firm views the severance of this business relationship with Chelsea as a necessity. Like several crypto-focused companies, Amber Group has been feeling the brunt of the bearish market and is trying to cut costs. The crypto trader also looks to downsize its workforce by 40%, which translates to a staff layoff of more than 300 people. With this downsizing, Amber Group hopes to adequately weather the crypto winter with a headcount of under 400. At its peak, the company had a staff force above 1,100.
Since Amber Group’s headcount reduction, a former worker alleged that the company still owes severance payments to dozens of employees in Shenzhen.
Amber Group-Chelsea Sponsorship Deal Ends Seven Months In
The Amber Group sponsorship deal with Chelsea was announced only seven months ago. The deal entailed the prominent football club displaying Amber’s WhaleFin trading platform logo on their jerseys. This contractual agreement was supposed to last the entire current 2022/2023 season. However, Amber Group decided to ditch the deal in the aftermath of the FTX collapse. According to an inside source, the Singapore company is going through the legal process of terminating the Chelsea agreement.
Amid the previously-mentioned cost-cutting measures undertaken by Amber Group, the company is also shutting down its retail operations. This move will presumably see the crypto trader’s customer base drop to around 100 from a larger pool. Following its closure of retail operations, Amber Group will solely focus on family offices and institutional investors.
In other related news, Amber Group has also managed to raise just 50% of a planned $100 million round. In addition, the Singaporean crypto trader halted its expansion plans amid the ongoing underwhelming crypto period. However, Amber Group’s Managing Partner Annabelle Huang does not think the company’s failure to secure the required total capital at this stage indicates failure. As she put it:
“I wouldn’t say [the funding round] was unsuccessful. We are not under pressure to raise capital.”
In addition, Huang revealed that Amber Group would announce a significant acquisition of a Singapore-licensed business this month.
Amber Group to Stumble Like FTX Sister Firm Alameda Research?
With the value of crypto assets declining, on-chain analysts indicate that Amber Group might meet the same fate as Alameda Research. The FTX-affiliated hedge fund and crypto trading firm lost traction last month when FTX imploded. Furthermore, the ill-fated Bahamian exchange and Alameda Research have come under numerous concurrent investigations for alleged fraud.
Lookonchain recently posted to its Twitter account that Amber Group appeared to be teetering on bankruptcy. According to the crypto detective platform, Amber Group has a relatively small total of $9.46 million in assets. However, Huang debunked Lookonchain’s bankruptcy claims. Also taking to Twitter, the Managing Partner stated that the crypto trading firm continues to operate business as usual. She further noted that withdrawals also remain active.