CoinDesk
Copper CEO Amar Kuchinad has left the company as its search for a buyer enters a fourth month, according to two people familiar with the matter. Cantor Fitzgerald was hired to run a sale process that pitched the firm at $500 million, but recent offers have landed closer to $200 million against a peak valuation above $2 billion. The London-based custody specialist has rolled in two senior hires in the past month: Elin Cherry as chief compliance officer and Sean Bowen as chief operating officer.
Why it matters
Kuchinad joined Copper in October 2024 from a Goldman Sachs background and an SEC advisory role, the kind of CV institutions read as a credibility signal when sizing a custody relationship. His exit mid-process, with no replacement named, is not the timing a seller wants a story to break on. The valuation gap, from over $2 billion at the cycle peak to bids clustering near $200 million, is the harder number: it is what an institutional counterparty is willing to underwrite the firm for today, not what it once raised at.
Market impact
The repricing lands at a moment when regulated crypto custody is supposed to be the institutional thesis with the most tailwind behind it, with bank custody desks, prime brokerage builds, and stablecoin issuer vaults all expanding. Copper's Clearloop in-custody settlement product had signed Coinbase and other Tier-1 names, the kind of reference clients that normally hold up a sale process. Cherry and Bowen's arrivals suggest the firm is leaning hard into the compliance and ops story to defend valuation. Other institutional infrastructure vendors in similar M&A conversations now have a public comparable to point at, and it does not price this corner of the stack richly.
Frequently asked questions
-
Why did Copper CEO Amar Kuchinad leave the company?
Kuchinad departed as Copper's search for a buyer entered a fourth month, with no public reason given. Neither Copper nor Kuchinad responded to comment requests by publication time.
-
How much is Copper being sold for?
Cantor Fitzgerald was appointed to market Copper at a $500 million asking price, but recent offers have clustered closer to $200 million against a peak valuation above $2 billion.
-
Who is running Copper's sale process?
Cantor Fitzgerald was appointed to facilitate the sale and is leading the marketing effort to potential acquirers, per people familiar with the matter.
-
What is Clearloop, Copper's in-custody settlement product?
Clearloop is Copper's in-custody settlement system that allows counterparties to settle trades without moving assets out of custody. It has signed clients including Coinbase.
-
When did Amar Kuchinad join Copper and what was his background?
Kuchinad became Copper's CEO in October 2024, replacing founder and CEO Dmitry Tokarev. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs and held an advisory role with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
TheBlock
WatcherGuru
Crypto Rank News
CoinTelegraph
Crypto News
WuBlockchain