Crypto trading firm Amber Group fends off rumours amid lay-offs and delayed severance payments after FTX collapse

Former employees of Amber Group in Shenzhen say they were blocked by HR and the CEO after requesting money they are owed

The crypto trading firm has been battling rumours that it is in financial straits after the FTX crash, saying it’s business as usual

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The founding team of Amber Group. Photo: Handout

Published: 11:00am, 9 Dec 2022

Signs of trouble are emerging at crypto unicorn Amber Group, which started in Hong Kong and is backed by big name investors including Temasek and Sequoia Capital, in the latest reminder of the risks that remain for the virtual asset industry following the collapse of FTX.

The company, which last week announced that its 30-year-old co-founder Tiantian Kullander had died suddenly in his sleep, played down the potential impact of FTX’s bankruptcy last month, saying it had no exposure to the derivatives trading firm Alameda Research or FTT, the token of FTX, and its money left on the exchange was less than 10 per cent of its trading capital. It “does not pose a threat” to business operations or liquidity, Amber Group posted on Twitter.

News of lay-offs at the firm have added to concerns about the health of the company. Former employees in Shenzhen say they have been unable to collect severance after being laid off in November without any answers from the company.

Amber Group spokeswoman Elaine Wang said in an emailed response that “rumours and false information were easy to … spread in times of chaos”, without commenting on specific questions. It is “business as usual” at the company, she said. She added that she did not have information on the company’s total trading capital.

Dozens of Amber Group employees in Shenzhen were promised severance payments on December 5, but few if any have received the money, one of the laid off workers told the Post. Chinese labour law typically requires one month of severance for each year employed.

When some former employees attempted to inquire about their compensation on Tencent Holdings’ WeChat, their messages either went unanswered or resulted in them being blocked by human resources and CEO Michael Wu, according to screenshots seen by the Post.

Wu, who co-founded the company, did not respond to questions sent on LinkedIn.

Rumours have since swirled online about the cryptocurrency trading firm, which was founded in Hong Kong in 2017 and later moved its headquarters to Singapore.

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