Crypto Lender Amber Cuts Bonuses, Cuts Jobs as FTX Collapse Turmoil Continues

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(Bloomberg) – Amber Group, one of Asia’s largest trading and lending platforms for digital currencies, has canceled this year’s staff bonuses as the former industry darling sits down. struggling with the crypto downturn.

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The Singapore-based company told employees this week it was scrapping performance-based bonuses for 2022 due to slowing business growth and market uncertainties, in an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News.

Since June, Amber has launched a series of cost-cutting measures, including layoffs and pay cuts. Some members of his management team have voluntarily agreed to give up all or part of their salaries until the market shows clear signs of recovery.

Amber CEO Michael Wu confirmed the waiving of bonuses and executive pay cuts in an interview with Bloomberg, adding that the company will continue to cut costs.

Even before FTX collapsed, we were preparing for a potentially prolonged crypto winter, he said. The company is cutting costs and unfortunately there will be no bonuses this year.

The company, whose backers include Temasek Holdings Pte and Sequoia China, plans to cut its workforce to less than 400 from a peak of some 1,100 earlier this year, Bloomberg reported last week. He suspended a $100 million funding round and is ending a sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC, which was part of a sports deal spree among crypto high-flyers in recent years.

With the collapse of the Sam Bankman-Frieds FTX crypto exchange sending shockwaves through the industry, investors and researchers have focused on Amber’s financial health. The company was started about five years ago by a group of former finance professionals, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley alumni.

The story continues

Amber said less than 10% of its trading capital is locked up on FTX and executives have sought to reassure the public that the company’s day-to-day operations have not been disrupted.

At its peak, Amber hired hundreds of employees in roles including coding, operations and product management in mainland China, according to two former employees who were recently fired and asked not to be identified for fear. harm their future employment prospects. They have signed contracts with mainland entities that are not directly related to Ambers’ main Singapore-based entity, they said. During the layoffs, these workers were asked to tidy up their offices in Shenzhen and work from home, the former employees said.

Amber says she has no offices in China. Although crypto trading is illegal in China, the ban is not fully enforced, leaving a gray area in which some Chinese-origin companies operate.

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