Digital asset company Amber Group is on a mission to democratise access to the world of cryptocurrency, via its flagship digital asset platform WhaleFin. And it seems to be working.

The global FinTech unicorn, backed by some of the biggest global investors, including Temasek, Sequoia, DragonFly Capital, and Coinbase Ventures, has surpassed US$3 billion in valuation, generating more than US$500 million worth of digital wealth for its more than one million retail customers and over 1,000 institutional clients.

According to Yi Bao, partner and head of product at Amber Group, WhaleFin is “well positioned” to “mainstream” crypto finance and empower people to build their digital wealth through its easy-to-use crypto finance products and services. “The launch of the WhaleFin platform is a very important milestone for Amber Group as we deliver on our mission to unlock the value of crypto finance for both individuals and institutions,” he says.

“We are serving both retail and institutional markets with WhaleFin, an all-in-one platform that bridges the demand and requirements of both markets,” he says.

By combining the institutional-grade features of its Amber Pro platform, launched in 2019, with the intuitive user interface and components of the Amber App, launched a year after, WhaleFin serves the dual needs of its institutional and retail customer base. 

Bao says WhaleFin launched at a very “sacred” time — in December 2021 — which saw the growing momentum of digital assets as more traditional finance institutions were starting to enter the field.

In order to serve the needs of both, the platform comes in two versions. First, the ‘Pro’ version, aimed at crypto-natives and advanced investors, provides comprehensive access to its full suite of trading features including its algorithmic execution services, margin trading, spot trading, and dual currency products. 

The other, WhaleFin Lite, is targeted at retail investors and the crypto curious. It offers a more simplified user experience designed to educate beginners and serve as a gateway for the crypto curious to enter the world of crypto finance. Users can easily buy, earn, swap, and spend digital assets at their fingertips.

Recently, Amber Group rolled out non-fungible token (NFT) products on the WhaleFin platform, allowing users to deposit, withdraw, and display their NFT features. Having recently partnered with Mastercard, it also plans to roll-out spending features via a crypto-backed credit card which allows users to easily spend their cryptocurrency. 

“Our underlying cutting-edge technology and sophisticated algorithms support customised execution and automated trading services such as Iceberg, TWAP, and VWAP with almost no price impact,” he adds.

“As soon as users ‘burn’ their carbon tokens, we deploy these funds into projects such as the Amazon Rainforest protection for example, to help mitigate the carbon emission problem,” explains Bao. He adds that, in order to offset the carbon generated by cryptomining, “we are also buying the carbon credits to offset the footprint we have already made in this industry”.

“Sustainability is just not just a word,” says Bao. “We need to demonstrate our commitment to protecting the environment at every step along the way.” 

“The security of our clients’ assets is our number one priority,” Bao says. “We have invested years of effort and dedicated our resources to deliver cybersecurity, cryptosecurity, and operational security.” He explains the use of secure transfer environments, called ‘The Walled Garden of Wireless’, to address this. 

WhaleFin also uses multi-factor authentication, which reports when users log into their accounts or make withdrawals. 

“Besides passwords and SMS verification, we also require users to to use Google Authenticator or an equivalent multi-factor authentication app to help keep their phones safe as well,” Bao says. “By authenticating deposit addresses to all network accounts, we protect the deposit address from man-in-the-middle attacks and spoofing entry attempts. Our zero-trust environment is designed to eliminate any potential risks.”

Further, the API keys for moving funds between exchanges and wallets are stored in a trusted execution environment which cannot be retrieved by hacker “insiders”, or even its MPC wallets. “All these security solutions have passed Deloitte’s audit SOC 2 certification,” Bao says.

“Our mission is not just trading,” he says. “We’re here to support users as they focus on generating long-term value, and for them to be more conscious and thoughtful with their investments and their impact on the wider communities and the planet we live in. As we move forward, our team plans to integrate innovative elements related to sustainability and digital lifestyle at a product level.”  

“Our mission is to enable users to build a sustainable digital world, and in time, create sustainable digital wealth for the benefit of everyone.”