Why is Cantor Fitzgerald involved?

Cantor Fitzgerald has been hired as the sell-side advisor to run the sale process, according to CoinDesk's sources. The firm has built out a crypto franchise that includes custodying Tether's US Treasury holdings, giving it relationships with both TradFi and digital-asset buyers.

How does the $500M valuation compare to past raises?

Copper was reportedly valued at roughly $3 billion in early 2022 during talks tied to a Barclays-led round. The $500 million asking price represents an 80%-plus haircut, in line with how late-2021 vintage crypto infrastructure has repriced.

Does this affect customer funds or token prices?

No. A change of ownership at the corporate level does not move client assets held under custody, and Copper does not have a listed equity or token. The impact is on market structure, not spot prices.

Copper Explores $500M Sale, Taps Cantor Fitzgerald to Run the Process

Q: Who is Copper and what do they do?

Copper is a London-headquartered institutional crypto custody and prime services firm. It offers custody, collateral management, and its ClearLoop off-exchange settlement network to hedge funds, asset managers, and trading desks, primarily in EMEA and APAC.

Copper, the London-based institutional crypto custody firm, is exploring a sale of the company at a valuation of roughly $500 million, CoinDesk reported on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald has been appointed to run the process, according to sources cited in the report. The mandate puts one of the largest non-US custodians on the auction block at a moment when institutional flows are reshaping the post-trade plumbing of crypto.

By Elena Stojanović· AI-assisted· Regulation correspondent

What happened

Copper has retained Cantor Fitzgerald to canvas buyers for a sale at a valuation near $500 million, CoinDesk reported Wednesday afternoon, citing people familiar with the matter. The firm offers custody, collateral management, and its ClearLoop off-exchange settlement network to hedge funds, asset managers, and trading desks. Copper has not issued a public statement on the process, and neither Cantor Fitzgerald nor the company responded on the record in the original report.

The $500 million figure is the asking price the bankers are testing, not a confirmed bid. Cantor Fitzgerald, run by Howard Lutnick before his move to Washington, has spent the last two years deepening its crypto franchise, including its role as custodian for Tether's US Treasury holdings and equity stakes in stablecoin and Bitcoin treasury businesses. Picking Lutnick's firm signals Copper wants a banker who can place the asset with US institutional capital.

Why it matters

Custody is the boring layer that decides where institutional crypto actually lives. With spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs now custodying tens of billions of dollars, the qualified custodian list has narrowed to a short bench: Coinbase Custody, BitGo, Anchorage, Fidelity Digital Assets, and a handful of bank-chartered entrants. Copper sits outside that US-regulated club but has been one of the largest non-American custody venues, particularly in EMEA and APAC.

A sale would either fold Copper into a US prime broker building out a global stack, or hand it to a TradFi bank looking for a turnkey crypto post-trade business. The price tag also matters. Copper was valued at roughly $3 billion in early 2022, when it was reportedly in talks with Barclays-led investors.

Copper Explores $500M Sale, Taps Cantor Fitzgerald to Run the Process

What happened

Why it matters

Market impact

What to watch

Disclaimer

Key takeaways

Frequently asked

Sources