Ex UK finance minister Philip Hammond has joined crypto custodial company Copper as an adviser to help the start-up to develop its strategy.
The company was founded in 2018, it’s registered with the FCA and is a gateway to digital assets for institutional investors interested in digital assets. The crypto start-up handled over $50bn in transactions every month on behalf of about 400 clients.
In Hammond’s opinion Britain’s access to financial markets after leaving the European Union will be significantly decreased. He said that UK should be a pioneer in financial innovation so it can compete with other countries after Brexit. “The only way that we’re going to be able to continue to secure full access is to have products and services which our EU neighbours clearly need to make their economies function effectively”, told Hammond the Financial Times. (The Financial Times, 2021)
Hammond sees a great opportunity in the crypto industry and in his view the UK should have moved much quicker on its regulation. “The challenge for us now is to persuade UK decision makers and regulators themselves that there is really an opportunity here.” (The Financial Times, 2021)
According to Hammond the company “has got a blue-chip client base, it’s got blue-chip investors behind it and it’s got proprietary technology which is rapidly emerging as the preferred option for trading and preserving crypto assets around the world.” (The Financial Times, 2021)
The company's future looks promising. Copper raised $75m from investors, of which $12.5m is from fund manager Alan Howard.
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*Agnew, Harrier & Oliver Joshua (11.10.2021). The Financial Times: UK’s ex-chancellor Philip Hammond joins crypto start-up Copper. Last viewed on 12.10.2021 on https://www.ft.com/content/bbf55915-8e8f-48a4-8c05-993dc388a528.
