Cryptocurrency trading firm Amber Group, which had roughly 10% of its trading capital stuck on FTX at the time of the exchange’s collapse, has acquired Singaporean cryptocurrency platform Sparrow Holdings, according to an announcement on Dec. 14.
Sparrow Holdings, which offers digital assets products and solutions, acquired its payments license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in August to provide Digital Payment Token services in Singapore under the Payment Services Act.
Founded in 2018, Sparrow works with financial institutions and family offices to design bespoke digital asset solutions to achieve customer-centric growth objectives while maintaining compliance requirements.
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The news of the acquisition comes at a sensitive time for Amber Group.
On Nov. 25, Cointelegraph reported that Amber Group’s co-founder Tiantian Kullander, also known as “TT,” unexpectedly passed away in his sleep on Nov. 23 at the age of 30.
The announcement of the passing was followed shortly thereafter by a report that Amber Group had paused its expansion plans following the collapse of FTX and its cascading effects on the market.
According to managing partner Annabelle Huang, Amber has also been forced to deprioritize its new metaverse project due to the FTX contagion.
The firm has reportedly also cut down on its workforce, laying off up to 40% of its staff in September, with more rounds of layoffs in December.