Philip Hammond joins digital asset custodian Copper

The former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Philip Hammond, has joined crypto-asset custodian Copper as an investment adviser.

Copper, founded in 2018, provides custodial cryptocurrency services to institutional investors. It handles more than $50bn worth of cryptocurrency transactions monthly and has over 400 clients including banks.

Lord Hammond will take up a position within the company as a strategic advisor as Copper expands. Copper recently opened an office on the US east coast with further intentions to open an office in Asia.

Lord Hammond’s position will be to present the UK as a global leader in the crypto sector.

“If we can bring together the best of Britain – entrepreneurs, industry, government, and regulators – to create and enable a blockchain-based ecosystem for financial services, we will secure the UK’s global leadership in this field for decades ahead,” he said.

Discussing the appointment, Copper CEO Dmitry Tokarev said he was delighted to welcome Lord Hammond to the Copper team.

“Over the last 18 months, Copper has grown exponentially, now serving over 400 institutional clients,” he said.

“We would like to drive growth in our client base within a regulatory framework which will allow us to thrive globally from our London headquarters.

“With Lord Hammond’s expertise adding to the strength of our team, we look forward to growing Copper and further enhancing the UK’s digital asset technology offering.”