When Amber Group was founded in 2017, it started off with a simple belief: that technology could transform financial services into something more efficient, more seamless, and crucially, more inclusive. With this, they made it their mission to “make finance better for everyone”, according to the company’s founder and CEO Michael Wu.

It’s evident this raison d’être has translated well: in just under three years, Amber Group has rapidly transitioned from start-up to unicorn, hitting US$3bn in value in February this year.

The company started out by working with institutions, and today still provides them with sophisticated solutions that combine next-generation technology tools and insights. It also partners with other fintech companies, empowering them to offer digital finance services while contributing towards building a more sophisticated and sound financial infrastructure for the entire ecosystem. More recently, Amber Group has expanded its core offerings, pivoting to consumers with its accessible retail investment.

With these factors in mind, Amber Group developed a platform that helps people build their wealth digitally—with crypto. As Mr Wu emphasises, they are a service provider, not a marketplace. What this means is that Amber Group doesn’t leave people to their own devices, but instead curates their portfolio, considerate of individual comfort levels.

Calling a technology innovation such as digital assets a double-edged sword, Mr Wu notes that while the digital assets industry “might be the most innovative industry in human history”, driven by open collaboration and decentralisation, these are also the same aspects making it challenging for consumers. “It’s very difficult and very confusing for the end customer,” he says. “They can’t differentiate what’s good or bad easily, and they can’t access the true value of digital assets easily.”

Another central tenet of Amber Group is building for the long term. As Mr Wu puts it, the company wants “to keep our customers forever”. So, rather than maximising the kind of short-term benefits crypto is known for, Amber Group wants to work towards stable, long-term wealth building. This has proven to be a successful approach:

The company’s sustainable ethos extends beyond people’s finances to also the environment. As well as partnering with four of the world’s largest whale and marine life protection agencies, Amber Group acquired Carbon Checkout, allowing consumers to offset the carbon cost of online purchases. According to Mr Wu, democratising access to carbon credits could be on the cards in the future too.

The most critical point that Mr Wu wants to convey is that Amber Group is “a different company from most of our peers in the space”. In tandem with making sustainability and inclusivity central, the company is “a lot more customer-centric” and “actually believes in the long-term benefits of this technology and wants to bring it to the world”. It’s a refreshing take on what is often regarded as an opaque, difficult sector—and one that could stand to transform the finances of people across the world.