Copper Taps Ex-Goldman Executive as CEO in Strategy Pivot

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(Bloomberg) — Cryptocurrency custodian Copper Technologies Ltd. has appointed Amar Kuchinad, former managing director of Goldman Sachs Group, to replace Dmitry Tokarev as group CEO, as it looks to secure more traditional financial companies as clients and make inroads into the U.S. market.

Tokarev, who founded Cooper in 2018, will take on the role of founding director on the company’s board, the London-based company said in a statement on Monday. The Board of Directors is chaired by former British Finance Minister Philip Hammond.

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“We were considered the next best person to take this business to the traditional market,” Tokarev said in an interview. “We want to work with banks.”

New York-based Kochenade previously founded bond trading platform Electronifie, which was acquired by rival Trumid in 2017. He later worked as a senior managing director at alternative investment management firm Pretium Partners and was previously a senior policy advisor on trading and markets. Rules applicable to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Copper is dividing its resources and energy by targeting potential customers in the cryptocurrency markets and trying to become the player of choice for traditional financial companies looking for blockchain services. The previous licensing agreement with State Street Corp was canceled in March last year.

Copper’s ClearLoop, an over-the-counter settlement platform for digital assets, processed about $121.2 billion in trading volume in July, nearly double what it was two months ago.

Tokarev’s exit marks the latest step in a shake-up of the company’s top executives. Its chief commercial officer, Boris Buhrer-Belovitsky, left the company in July and was replaced by Michael Roberts, who previously oversaw Bank of America Corp.’s prime brokerage platform in Europe. CoinDesk first reported Tokarev’s plans to leave his position.

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Strategy shift

Copper began discussions about changes to its long-term priorities in April this year, Tokarev said. He concluded that the best long-term strategy would be to focus squarely on how traditional financial firms use blockchain-based collateral management technology. Cochinad entered the picture during the summer.

“For copper, most of the opportunities — especially after the election — will be in a regulated market, and a lot of them, frankly, will be in the United States,” Tokarev said.

As part of this move, the company plans to obtain custodial or money transfer licenses in the country, including the so-called BitLicense in New York, Kochinad said during a joint interview with Tokarev.

Tokarev is the company’s largest shareholder, a position he plans to maintain for now. He and Kochenade will work together on a transitional handover over the next few months. Kochenade plans to split his time between Cooper’s offices in New York and London, among other locations, he said.

The company last raised $221 million in a Series C funding round in 2022. Its investors include Barclays, Tiger Global and Dawn Capital.

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