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Copper
Founded in 2018 , Copper has amassed a client roster of 500 in a short space of time , comprising trading firms , financial institutions and corporations which use its custody , trading , prime brokerage and staking solutions to manage their assets . As impressive as its business has been , the other side of the story is the talent it has attracted to its ranks .
A big splash in the hiring of former Citi , Deutsche Bank , Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan executive Sabrina Wilson was followed up by lifting a team from BAML to expand its prime infrastructure . Meanwhile , it ’ s latest addition – chief risk officer Tim Neill – hailed from the London Stock Exchange Group , Standard Chartered Bank and Deutsche Bank . In a short lifespan , it ’ s clear Copper is building something special in the digital asset space “ It is our goal and expectation that the rails we are creating for the digital asset world will , at some point , be able to be adopted by the wider financial services industry through the tokenisation of securities and the broad adoption of central bank digital currencies globally . Providing secure and efficient trading solutions of digital assets is just the start .” Secure custody of digital assets remains an ongoing concern for any crypto investor , given that best practices and technology in risk and technology continue to evolve . A report by ImmuneFi found that losses resulting from hacks , scams and other malicious activities in crypto markets during 2021 exceeded $ 10.2 billion . Much of this was due to private key theft and compromised credentials . Since 2020 , Copper custody has been
ELEVATOR PITCH
Copper is an infrastructure provider in the digital asset space that ensures the security and trading needs of institutional investors by providing safeguards against counterparty risk , theft , fraud and misappropriation of assets .
powered by a new decentralised solution called multi-party computation , or MPC . This novel solution removes the critical attack vector of private keys because no one private key exists . Instead , key shards are created separately and in isolation . MPC custody remains the most robust solution in the market and we ’ re now seeing more third-party custody providers embracing this technology . As Copper correctly highlights , there is no shortage of opportunity in digital assets , but there ’ s plenty of risk to go around as well . At the forefront of investors ’ minds when trading cryptoassets is counterparty risk of crypto exchanges . This is because all exchanges have the potential to fall prey to hack / thefts and lose customers ’ digital assets . Copper ’ s ClearLoop solution enables clients to trade digital assets without moving assets to exchanges , diminishing the risk that funds will be hacked , frozen or misappropriated . In March this year , State Street ’ s dedicated digital division entered into a licensing agreement with Copper . co to develop and launch a digital custody offering . The global custodian is utilising Copper . co ’ s technology to build a platform where clients can store and settle their digital assets within a secure environment managed by State Street . “ That State Street , one of the world ’ s largest custodians , is creating a new digital asset service is a hugely important development for institutional engagement in this new asset class ,” said Wilson at the time . “ We are proud to be part of State Street ’ s goal to lead the way in the transformation of financial infrastructure .” The deal was a major one for Copper and cemented its place in this list and among the most talked about digital asset firms in the market . “ The existing players in securities services would like services of the same standard to be available for digital assets as for other assets . Further regulation is of course a requirement in order for the sector to progress , but , in the meantime , Copper is doing its best to provide trading solutions which meet and exceed the expectations of institutional investors so that digital assets can be a normal part of this ecosystem alongside other asset classes ,” Copper told Global Custodian .
Notable partners and collaborators : State Street , FTX , Hehmeyer
30 Global Custodian Fall 2022