High street bank Barclays Plc is reportedly taking a stake in cryptocurrency company Copper.
Sky News reports that Barclays is to invest millions of dollars into the London firm, which counts former Chancellor Philip Hammond among its advisers, in its Series C funding round.
Founded in 2018 by CEO Dmitry Tokarev, Copper provides a gateway into the cryptoasset space for institutional investors by offering custody, prime brokerage and settlements.
Its proprietary ClearLoop technology infrastructure for cryptocurrency trading powers hundreds of exchanges, trading firms and payment processors.
The company, which is expanding globally, closed a £35 million Series B funding round in May 2021 and is expected to be valued at $2 billion by the latest fundraise.
The Series B was co-led by leading B2B software investor Dawn Capital and Target Global – which led Copper’s Series A round – and featured Illuminate Financial Management, Copper’s existing investors LocalGlobe and MMC Ventures, and a number of industry-renowned FinTech executives and entrepreneurs serving as strategic angels.