The first quarter of 2023 has come to an end with a number of high-profile bank failures, a volatile stock market, and the best quarter for Bitcoin in two years. At Amber Group, we are pleased to share that we are off to a great start as we look forward to strengthening our resiliency as a company and focusing on our core pillars and business lines.

In this recap, we delve into what has happened at Amber Group in the past three months.

New Business Strategy in 2023 

Following an eventful year for the industry and the company, Amber Group is prioritizing its core businesses and centering its efforts on the more resilient aspect of the space so that we are better positioned for the next cycle of growth. At present, we are doubling down on delivering best-in-class services for our core institutional and high-net-worth clients, with a key focus on core business lines of crypto-native liquidity solutions, as well as digital wealth management. 

Sitting at the center of Asian crypto markets and operating 24/7 across the globe, Amber Group is a category leader in Asia that acts as the bridge between the East and the West. 

Continued Commitment to Compliance and Security

Our dedicated team of security engineers and researchers has been committed to advancing Web3 and blockchain security through discovery, analysis and exposure of vulnerabilities and attack methods. Recently, our Web3 Security team has developed the first effective fuzzer for NTFS3 and got accepted by the world’s leading InfoSec events Black Hat Asia 2023 and WOOT’23 to present their research results. Additionally, the team got third place in the NumenCTF contest and was also named one of the winners in the SuiCTF competition.

Furthermore, guided by our proactive licensing strategy, Sparrow Tech Private Limited - a regulated digital asset services provider with a Major Payment Institution license in Singapore – has become part of Amber Group. Last but not least, we were approved to be a member of the VerifyVASP Alliance, the industry-proven Travel Rule solutions that support the global industry members across the globe to comply with the Travel Rule requirement. These are testament to our continued focus and commitment to comply and collaborate with regulators.

Strategic Partnerships 

Q1 was a quarter of partnerships for Amber Group, with three notable partnerships cementing Amber Group as an integral player in the digital asset ecosystem. These are:

• RockX: Unveiled the partnership with RockX to explore new staking opportunities with Bedrock, the institutional-grade liquidity staking platform of RockX.

• BitMart: Partnered with BitMart to expand institutional trading through the integration of our liquidity offering with BitMart’s digital asset trading technology services.

• Ripjar: Partnered with Ripjar to implement monitoring and risk-based screening tools to proactively detect and prevent financial crime across our operations.

Industry Engagement

Our team of experts are regularly actively participating in industry events and discussions, actively promoting Web3 development and crypto adoption in the wider environment.  In Q1, we were involved in:

• FOMO Asia Genesis Conference: Regional Director Leo Deng spoke on the benefits and challenges of crypto regulation.

• Reap Networking Event: Regional Director Leo Deng discusses the latest trends, regulatory compliance, and opportunities emerging in the Web3 ecosystem. 

• Coinlive Stories: Managing Partner Annabelle Huang did a feature interview to  share her experiences in crypto and view on women's representation in the web3 space.

• First Off The Blocks Podcast: Managing Partner Annabelle Huang sat down with Karen Tang to talk about the negative misconceptions of a bear market, the current state of the market and ways to move forward in a positive direction.

• Blockcast Podcast: Managing Partner Annabelle Huang joined the Blockcast podcast to share her take on digital asset regulation, the race for crypto hub status in Asia, and Temasek’s investment into Amber Group.

• DigiFT’s Twitter Space: Head of Structuring and Product Team Jerry Zhou joined the live discussion on the implications of Silicon Valley Bank closure and Credit Suisse collapse, and the potential of real-world assets.