Banking Giant Barclays to Reportedly Invest in Crypto Firm Copper Amid Market Downturn

Multinational banking giant Barclays reportedly aims to invest in crypto custody firm Copper despite the declining global appetite for risk-on assets like cryptoassets.

The UK-based bank is one of several new investors joining a funding round for Copper, Sky News reported Sunday, adding that the bank would invest an undisclosed sum, probably in the “millions of dollars" range. The fundraising will be finalized in a couple of days.

Copper, which counts former chancellor Lord Hammond among its advisers, is a crypto platform providing custody, prime brokerage, and settlement services to institutional investors deploying money into digital assets.

The fundraising would conclude Copper's USD 500m Series C funding round, which started in late 2021 with the crypto platform seeking to raise funds at a USD 3bn valuation. However, due to the recent crypto meltdown, Copper has reduced that figure to USD 2bn.

Copper's target valuation took a hit as some big names in crypto have recently failed. More specifically, crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and crypto lender Celsius Network have filed for bankruptcy in recent weeks, further exacerbating investor confidence in the nascent industry.

Founded by Dmitry Tokarev in 2018, Copper lists some big venture capital firms among its investors, such as LocalGlobe, Dawn Capital, and MMC Ventures. The firm previously raised USD 50m via a Series B funding round at an undisclosed valuation.

Barclays, along with Goldman Sachs, also joined a USD 70m Series A funding round for the institutional crypto trading platform Elwood Technologies in mid-May.