London-based Barclays Bank intends to purchase a stake in cryptocurrency company Copper, whose advisors include former British chancellor Philip Hammond, according to Bloomberg.
According to British news service company Sky News, Barclays is among a group of new investors joining the funding round for Copper, in which the bank will invest a few million dollars.
The financing is expected to be completed within days, according to informed sources, while Barclays and Copper declined to comment on the matter.
Copper offers institutional investors in crypto assets initial brokerage and settlement services. Founded by Dmitriy Tokarev in 2018, the company attracted investors from global venture capital firms such as LocalGlobe and Dawn Capital and MMC Ventures.
Several media reports revealed the cryptocurrency company aimed for a valuation of at least $3 billion in its most recent capital raising at the beginning of the year, but the company has since reduced this value amid the cryptocurrency market’s growing crisis.
Cryptocurrency-related businesses have had a difficult year, with some going bankrupt as the value of major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, has fallen along with other risky assets globally, by approximately 58 percent since the start of the year.
