Amber Group Considers Direct Listing With the US

Amber Group, a crypto-financial service firm, is eyeing to list in the US within the next two years. To begin with, Amber Group offers algorithmic, high-frequency, and over-the-counter trading to institutional clients. Specifically, the company has operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Canada.

Furthermore, Amber allows customers to earn interest on crypto holdings by lending to other clients at a higher rate. Currently, the company is managing $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency assets. The company claims it has more than 100,000 registered users of its Amber App, launched in Q3 2020.

CEO Michael Wu told the South China Morning Post that a direct listing is “definitely on the table, probably next year or the year after. Also, the US is a likely destination, but we’re open-minded.”

Furthermore, the CEO admitted that the US, when it comes to crypto regulation, has taken “a more conservative approach than regulators in [Asia] or elsewhere.” The company will not offer lending products if it does not get the green light from regulators. Also, noting that “most of our businesses are elsewhere,” and that “we’ll evaluate case by case” in each jurisdiction.

The company attained unicorn status in June. This follows a $100 million funding round that gave it a valuation of $1 billion. Its investors include Tiger Global Management, Coinbase Ventures, and Blockchain.com.

Cryptocurrency companies have been facing greater challenges this year amid scrutiny in markets like the US. More so,  an industry crackdown in mainland China. Publicly listed crypto exchange Coinbase recently canceled plans to launch a similar service. This is because the Securities and Exchange Commission threatened to sue it for offering what is considered to be an unregistered security product.

Source: https://coinquora.com/amber-group-considers-direct-listing-with-the-us/