Copper, the London-based cryptocurrency gateway for institutional investors, announced that it has joined the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum’s (OMFIF) Digital Monetary Institute (DMI) as a founding member.

The DMI has already been endorsed or offered public support by a number of leading public sector institutions including the IMF, Bank of England and the World Bank.

This move marks a major milestone for Copper in realising its ambition to bridge the gap between the world of traditional finance and the emerging potential of blockchain and crypto technologies.

OMFIF is an independent think tank for central banking, economic policy and public investment. At its core, OMFIF seeks to create a forum for central banks and policy makers to meet and collaborate with industry experts from the private sector. Its DMI was first launched in May 2020 with a focus on payments instruments in wholesale and retail markets.

Copper joins other leading financial institutions including the multinational bank ING Group, the decentralised smart contract platform Cypherium Blockchain, and Giesecke+Devrient Currency Technology GmbH to help inform a range of discussions and research on the adoption of digital currencies by central banks. Together with its founding members, OMFIF has already published extensive research on the potential benefits of adopting digital currencies for central banks and the impact that distributed ledger technology could have on future monetary policy.

Dmitry Tokarev, Chief Executive Officer at Copper Technologies, said: “We are delighted to be joining OMFIF’s Digital Money Institute. The forum it provides to create open and productive discussions between public and private organisations is already proving crucial to advancing the foundational structures of global finance, and we are excited to have the opportunity to support in realising this endeavour.

“When we created Copper, we set out to make the incredible potential of cryptoassets accessible, through increased security and aligned compliance, to traditional financial institutions. Over the past weeks, we have seen a tremendous uptake of crypto by traditional players, partially catalysed by the risks associated with the economic impact of COVID-19.

“As more and more institutions are beginning to see beyond the 2017 retail-driven image of the space, the real and long-term value of crypto, and blockchain more generally, becomes apparent. OMFIF has the potential to advance this cause, and move the needle on how the entire financial system views crypto”

David Marsh, Chairman and Co-Founder at OMFIF said: “Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has become a more pressing priority for central banks, first with the unveiling of Libra by Facebook, and more recently with the challenges of distributing financial help to citizens during the COVID-19 crisis.

“I am pleased to welcome Copper as a founding member of our Digital Monetary Institute to help shape the digital currency discussion.”