UK Largest Bank To Invest in Crypto Firm Copper.co, Report Shows

While a wave of bankruptcies continues to roil the cryptocurrency market, the largest bank in the United Kingdom, Barclays, has decided to buy a stake in Copper, one of the most well-known companies in the crypto industry.

This development came in a report by Sky News on Sunday, July 24, 2022. The report said that the UK-based bank is among a crop of new investors joining the funding round for Copper. According to sources, Barclays will make a sizeable investment “in the millions of dollars” as part of the fundraising process, ending in a few days.

According to a Bloomberg report, Copper.co aimed to raise funds that would value it at around $3 billion last November. The company earlier hired Philip Hammond, the UK’s former Chancellor of the Exchequer, as a senior adviser. Other investors like Tiger Global, SoftBank Group, and Accel will participate in the $500 million funding round.

Notably, Copper.co provides institutional investors with various services, including custody, prime broking, and settlement, for their investments in digital assets. Dmitry Tokarev founded the company in 2018 and has already drawn investment from many significant global venture capital firms, including MMC Ventures, LocalGlobe, and Dawn Capital.

Recently, major market participants, including Three Arrows Capital  Celsius and Voyager Digital, have filed for bankruptcy or suspended customers’ access to their funds, undermining the trust in the crypto industry.

Some former employees of Celsius have spoken out, pointing accusing fingers at their top executives. Timothy Cradle, former compliance director, alleged the company took too many illegal shortcuts, endangering investors’ funds.