Banking Behemoth Barclays Buys a Stake in Crypto Firm Copper

Despite the recent crypto crash erasing more than $2 trillion in value from the market and wiping out nearly $40 billion in investors’ capital, Copper has still managed to draw investment from one of the world’s most established banks.

Multinational banking giant Barclays has concluded its long-standing talks with investors in the round which had been delayed since November last year as Copper grappled with a temporary regulatory registration in the UK.

More specifically, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires digital asset service providers to apply for temporary registration in accordance with money laundering regulations. This means that all crypto-asset businesses must obtain full registration with the FCA before conducting business.

However, Copper later chose to become regulated in Switzerland following its license registration deadlock with the financial watchdog.

Numerous firms operate under the Temporary Registration Regime (TRR) including Blockchain.com and Revolut, and more than 100 in total applied for the registration after the FCA became the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing authority in the UK in 2020.

According to Bloomberg, while Barclays has invested an undisclosed sum somewhere in the “millions of dollars”, it was confirmed last year by sources privy to the matter that the funds could raise Copper’s valuation to around $3 billion. The sources also added that they were unsure about whether the amount raised will be made public.

Barclays was one of the first mainstream banks to endorse crypto back in 2015 when it began supporting the use of Bitcoin (BTC) as an alternative payment method by allowing charities to accept donations in the digital currency.