30-year-old co-founder of crypto trading platform Amber Group dies “unexpectedly” in his sleep

Tiantian Kullander, the former Morgan Stanley trader and co-founder of digital-asset trading platform startup Amber Group, suddenly died in his sleep. He was only 30 years old.

“It is with the deepest sadness and a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of our friend and co-founder, Tiantian Kullander, who passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on November 23, 2022,” Amber said in a statement on its website on Friday.

Nicknamed “TT,” Kullander co-co-founded Amber in 2017 together with a group of former finance professionals, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Bloomberg alumni. The startup provides liquidity, trading, and asset management services. The firm operates in Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, and Vancouver.

Its backers include Singaporean state investment company Temasek Holdings. The startup was in talks to raise about $100 million, Bloomberg reported earlier this month (although in light of recent events those plans have likely been put on hold).

According to CrunchBase, five of Amber’s founders – Kullander, Michael Wu, Wayne Huo, Tony He, and Luke Li – previously worked together on Morgan Stanley’s fixed-income trading floor in Hong Kong.

Below is the full statement from Amber Group.

It is with the deepest sadness and a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of our friend and co-founder, Tiantian Kullander, who passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on November 23, 2022.

Tiantian (or “TT”, as he was lovingly known) was instrumental to the founding of Amber and a pillar of our success. He put his heart and soul into the company, in every stage of its growth. He led by example with his intellect, generosity, humility, diligence and creativity.

TT was a respected thought leader and widely recognized as a pioneer for the industry. His depth of knowledge, his willingness to collaborate and his desire to always help others benefited countless start-ups and individuals. His insights and creativity inspired many projects, people and communities.

Besides co-founding Amber and building it into a multi-billion fintech unicorn, TT sat on the Board of Fnatic (one of the world’s most successful e-sports organizations) and founded KeeperDAO (the first on-chain liquidity underwriter) before giving it back to its community.

We lost a great partner and a true friend in TT and words cannot express our sorrow at this time. TT’s legacy will live on and we will work even harder to make Amber the category-defining leader of our industry, as this was TT’s ambition and dream.

TT was a devoted husband, a loving father and a fierce friend. His passing is a tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with his family. He is survived by his wife and their beloved son. We kindly request that you respect their privacy during this difficult time.