Amber Group, a cryptocurrency trading firm backed by Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN), reached a valuation of USD 1 Billion after raising USD 100 Million in its latest funding round. The Company, based out of Hong Kong, does not offer an actual cryptocurrency exchange to its clients, but rather sells products surrounding the use of algorithmic trading and lending. Though China has recently ramped up its crackdown on cryptocurrency, Amber Group CEO Michael Wu says the Company brings “private banking experience to every day customer” within its capacity. Enthusiasm surrounding the Cryptocurrency market has caused a significant rise in blockchain technology investment, totaling USD 14 Billion just this quarter as opposed to USD 600 Million at the same time last year. Amber Group is set to bring in roughly USD 500 Million in revenue by the end of this year.
Though Amber Group has steadily found success within the crypto sector, China has still vowed to further regulate Cryptocurrency as a whole. As stated before, China does not view Cryptocurrencies as a legitimate form of currency and fears it can disrupt the Yuan’s status as a national currency. China’s commitment to further regulate the Crypto Market, along with some Elon Musk antics, sent Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) plummeting below USD 30,000 after reaching a peak of USD 65,000 last April. Additionally, the entire market of digital currencies has lost roughly USD 400 Billion in value. When asked to comment on China’s regulatory stance, CEO Wu stated, “I think regulation is always a challenge for this industry because it’s a very global industry… It’s always about staying ahead, or at least staying aware of the different regulation. We always take a very conservative approach to that.”