Copper CEO Amar Kuchinad departs as buyer search drags into fourth month

Copper.co, the London-headquartered digital asset custody firm that once commanded a $2.5 billion valuation, is now navigating a leadership vacuum on top of a sale process that isn’t going according to plan. CEO Amar Kuchinad has departed the company as the search for a buyer enters its fourth month with offers clustering around $200 million, a figure that would represent a 92% haircut from the company’s peak valuation.

A sale that keeps getting cheaper

Copper kicked off its formal sale process back in May 2026, enlisting investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald to find potential acquirers. The initial target was a $500 million valuation. That figure already represented a steep markdown from the $2.5 billion the company was once worth at its funding peak.

By late August, even that reduced ask proved too rich. Buyer interest coalesced around the $200 million range, according to reports. For a company that has raised approximately $286 million in total funding across multiple rounds, a $200 million exit would mean investors collectively lose money on the deal.

Kuchinad took the CEO role in October 2024, succeeding founder Dmitry Tokarev, who remains a key shareholder. The company has been working to expand its institutional services and regulatory footprint, securing a Trusted Custodian Services Provider license in Hong Kong as part of that push.

The financial picture

Copper’s most recent publicly reported financials paint a picture familiar to many crypto infrastructure startups: ambitious spending against modest revenue. In 2023, the company posted $20.6 million in revenue but recorded losses of $61 million. At that point it still held $109 million in cash reserves, a buffer built from the $286 million it had raised over its lifetime.

Founded by Tokarev in 2018, Copper built its reputation on institutional-grade custody and its ClearLoop settlement system, which allows clients to trade on exchanges without moving assets off the custodian’s platform. Think of it as a way for big funds to trade crypto while keeping their coins in a secure vault, rather than trusting each exchange to safeguard them.

What the valuation compression signals

For potential buyers, Copper presents a classic distressed-asset calculus. The company has real technology, a recognized brand in institutional circles, and regulatory licenses that took years and significant capital to obtain. The Hong Kong custodian license alone has meaningful strategic value as Asian markets open up to regulated digital asset services.

The competitive landscape has shifted meaningfully since Copper’s founding. Firms like Fireblocks, BitGo, and Anchorage Digital have all carved out institutional custody positions, and traditional financial players like BNY Mellon and State Street have entered or expanded their crypto custody offerings.

With no CEO in place and offers sitting at less than half the asking price, Copper’s board faces a decision that will define the company’s legacy: accept a deal that crystalizes significant losses for early investors, or hold out for better terms while burning through remaining cash reserves.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.