CoinDesk
Crypto custody firm Copper is exploring a sale at roughly a $500 million valuation, with Wall Street bank Cantor Fitzgerald appointed to run the auction, according to two people familiar with the matter. Copper and Cantor declined to comment. The London-based firm is pitching itself as a regulated institutional infrastructure provider, anchored by ClearLoop — its in-custody settlement network that lets counterparties execute delivery-versus-payment trades without moving assets onchain, eliminating settlement risk.
Copper says ClearLoop serves more than 1,000 active counterparties and processes over $50 billion in monthly notional trading volume. The company shut its standalone enterprise custody business in 2023 to double down on ClearLoop, and earlier this year signed a partnership with BitGo to extend the application across BitGo's institutional client base.
Why it matters
A $500M ask at this stage of the cycle is a signal about where the institutional plumbing trade is consolidating. Copper had been weighing an IPO earlier this year, but a colder crypto-IPO window — with bitcoin trading below $80,000 and AI soaking up most of the risk appetite — pushed the firm toward a strategic exit instead. The ClearLoop asset is the prize: off-exchange settlement with no onchain leg is exactly the compliance-friendly shape US institutions and TradFi entrants keep asking custodians to build.
Market impact
The sale lands in the busiest stretch of crypto M&A in years. Mastercard agreed to buy stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion; Kraken's parent Payward agreed to acquire derivatives venue Bitnomial; Bullish announced a $4.2 billion deal to buy Equiniti, folding transfer agency into tokenization infrastructure. Standard Chartered said this week it will buy out minority shareholders in Zodia Custody, its crypto custodian subsidiary, just weeks after its venture arm took a stake in trading firm GSR at a more than $1 billion valuation. A Copper exit at $500M would benchmark the next round of institutional-custody transactions and likely accelerate the TradFi bid for crypto-native plumbing.
Frequently asked questions
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What is Copper selling — custody or settlement?
Copper is selling around its ClearLoop in-custody settlement system, not its legacy custody business, which it shut in 2023 to focus on ClearLoop. ClearLoop enables delivery-versus-payment trades without moving assets onchain.
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Who is running the Copper sale?
Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald has been appointed to help sell Copper, according to two people familiar with the matter. Copper and Cantor declined to comment.
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How is Copper valued at $500M?
Copper is weighing a sale at roughly a $500 million valuation, per people familiar with the matter. The firm had also been weighing an IPO earlier this year before pivoting to a strategic exit.
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How big is ClearLoop's institutional footprint?
Copper says ClearLoop serves more than 1,000 active counterparties and processes over $50 billion in monthly notional trading volume. BitGo is a partner for extending the application across its institutional client base.
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Where does a Copper deal sit in the current crypto M&A cycle?
It lands in the busiest stretch of crypto M&A in years: Mastercard agreed to buy BVNK for up to $1.8B, Payward agreed to acquire Bitnomial, Bullish announced a $4.2B deal for Equiniti, and Standard Chartered said it will buy out minority shareholders in Zodia Custody.
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