Share this article
Crypto Trading Firm Amber Group Ditches $25M Chelsea Sponsorship Deal Amid Layoffs: Report
The crypto trader will also lay off 40% of its workforce as it feels the squeeze of the bear market.
Updated May 9, 2023, 4:04 a.m. Published Dec 9, 2022, 9:29 a.m.
Singapore-based cryptocurrency trading firm Amber Group is terminating a $25 million sponsorship deal with football club Chelsea FC, according to a Bloomberg report, citing a source.
Amber Group, which is backed by Temasek and Sequoia Capital, is also laying off around 300 staff to slash its workforce to less than 400. At its peak it employed more than 1,100, the report said.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Under the sponsorship, Chelsea would show the logo of Amber’s WhaleFin trading platform on team shirts for the duration of the current 2022/2023 season.
The decision to reduce its workforce and scrap the sponsorship, which was announced just seven months ago, comes during a cyclical lull in the crypto market that prompted the collapse of numerous key companies including FTX, BlockFi and Celsius Network.
The crypto trader is also winding down its retail operations, a move that will see its customer base fall to around 100 from hundreds of thousands as it focuses on institutional investors and family offices.
Amber also raised just half of a planned $100 million round and halted its expansion plans, according to a FT report.
On-chain analysts have suggested that Amber Group may follow in the footsteps of Alameda Research, the trading firm tied to FTX that imploded last month, with crypto sleuth lookonchain claiming that Amber Group has just $9.46 million in assets.
Annabelle Huang, managing partner at Amber Group, denied those claims by saying on Twitter that the business continues to "operate business as usual," and that"withdrawals are open as usual."
Dozens of Amber Group employees in Shenzhen have yet to receive severance payments that were promised on Dec. 5, a former worker told the South China Morning Post.
Amber Group did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Cascade Unveils 24/7 Neo-Brokerage Offering Perpetuals on Cryptos, U.S. Stocks
The platform will let retail traders use one margin account to trade round-the-clock perpetual markets.
What to know:
- Cascade has introduced a 24/7 brokerage-style app for perpetual markets spanning crypto, U.S. equities and private-asset exposure.
- The firm is pitching a single, unified margin account with direct-to-bank U.S. dollar capability for deposits and withdrawals.
- The company has raised $15 million from investors including Polychain Capital, Variant and Coinbase Ventures.
Top Stories
