London, UK, 26/01/2023: Copper.co, the leading provider of institutional digital asset custody and trading solutions, today announces the appointment of Lord (Philip) Hammond of Runnymede, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, as Chair. He takes up this role with immediate effect.

Lord Hammond has served as a Senior Adviser to Copper since October 2021. During this time, he has provided strategic advice to the Copper team as the firm has grown significantly and expanded its operations and services globally.

Lord Hammond has been at the forefront of promoting the UK as a global leader in digital asset technology and publicly making the case for the need to connect traditional finance with distributed ledger technology and reforming the UK’s regulatory framework governing digital assets.

In the time since Lord Hammond joined Copper as Senior Adviser, the firm has grown from 50 to over 300 people, doubling revenues. Landmark deals have included Copper onboarding leading hedge funds and partnering with multiple participants in the Defi ecosystem.

The firm’s growth is further underpinned by its transformational exchange network ClearLoop. The product enables institutional clients to trade on multiple digital asset exchanges while keeping funds in secure custody with Copper, thereby mitigating counterparty risk. As a result, new clients and exchanges are joining ClearLoop at an accelerated pace.

Dmitry Tokarev, Chief Executive Officer, Copper, said: “It has been an outstanding privilege to benefit from Lord Hammond’s strategic expertise forged by his successful career in politics and business. I am thrilled he has agreed to become Chair of Copper. In addition to his guidance and experience benefiting and enhancing Copper, his public advocacy relating to the importance of connecting traditional finance with distributed ledger technology comes at a time when it is needed more than ever.”

Lord Hammond, Chairman, Copper, said: “I have greatly enjoyed working with Copper, a company that has pioneered the use of digital asset investment technology and which is increasingly emerging as the leading option for global financial institutions to trade and safeguard their digital assets.

Recent security and regulatory challenges affecting the digital asset sector have only served to emphasise the need for safe, well-regulated trading infrastructure. I remain firmly of the view that the post-Brexit UK Financial Services sector needs to embrace Distributed Ledger Technology as a key part of its strategy to remain a major global financial centre. I look forward to continuing to make the case for this potential to be realised as Chairman of Copper.”

Lord Hammond enjoyed a distinguished career in British politics as a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2019, serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer (2016-2019), Foreign Secretary (2014-16), Defence Secretary (2011-2014) and Transport Secretary (2010-11). Since stepping down as the Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge in November 2019, Lord Hammond, who was awarded a life peerage by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in July 2020, has resumed his business career.

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Notes to editors

About Lord Hammond

Since October 2021, Philip Hammond has been a Senior Adviser to Copper Technologies (UK) Ltd, a company specialising in financial services trading infrastructure. Working closely with Copper CEO Dmitry Tokarev, Philip has provided strategic advice to the Copper team as it has expanded globally and met the growing appetite from institutional investors for digital assets. Prior to joining Copper Philip Hammond had a distinguished career in British politics as a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2019. He held a range of Senior cabinet posts, most recently serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019. Prior to this, he served as Foreign Secretary (2014-2016), Defence Secretary (2011- 2014) and Transport Secretary (2010-2011).

Before entering Parliament in 1997, Philip had a wide-ranging business career spanning the house-building and property, healthcare equipment and oil and gas sectors. As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip focussed on the long-term productivity challenges facing the UK economy and was a strong advocate for the Financial Services sector, and especially for the fast-growing Fintech sector. He championed the cause of SMEs and the need for greater access to long-term growth capital to allow successful British start-ups to scale up in the UK, rather than seeking capital overseas. He stepped down as the Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge in 2019 after nearly 23 years serving the Surrey constituency. He was awarded a life peerage by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in July 2020.

About Copper.co

Since being founded in 2018, Copper has been setting the standard for institutional digital assets by offering custody, trading, prime services and collateral management of digital assets. Underpinned by multi-award-winning technology, Copper has built the comprehensive and secure products and services required to safely custody and trade cryptocurrencies and other digital assets such as tokens and stablecoins. At the core of Copper’s infrastructure is ClearLoop, which enables clients to trade and settle in near real time across multiple exchanges, while mitigating counterparty risk and increasing capital efficiency.

For more information, please visit: www.copper.co