Copper.co
Copper.co is a Bitcoin company in the Custody category, founded in 2018 by Dmitry Tokarev.
The Idea
UK-based institutional digital asset custody and prime-services provider. Copper focuses on meeting regulatory requirements for institutional investors while providing deep liquidity, prime brokerage, and off-exchange settlement.
Early Traction
Copper's real traction came from ClearLoop, its off-exchange settlement network. It let institutions trade across exchanges while their assets stayed in Copper's MPC custody rather than on the exchange, removing exactly the counterparty risk that later sank FTX's customers. That became its signature product with hedge funds and trading desks.
Peak Stats
ClearLoop grew into one of the largest off-exchange settlement networks, connecting exchanges like Kraken, OKX, Bybit, Deribit, and Coinbase's international venue. Backed by Alan Howard, co-founder of the Brevan Howard hedge fund, with a ~$196M Series C that included Barclays, and processes billions in institutional trades.
Status Today
Active. Growing as a key platform for European and global institutional investors.
Why It Matters
Copper helped make off-exchange settlement standard institutional practice, letting funds trade on exchanges without trusting them to hold the assets, a model that looked prescient after FTX collapsed.