Copper Eyes Public Debut: IPO Talks Signal Crypto’s Shift to Wall Street’s Plumbing

London-based crypto custody leader Copper is reportedly in preliminary discussions regarding an Initial Public Offering (IPO), engaging with heavyweight investment banks including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank.

This exploration follows closely on the heels of rival BitGo’s successful $2 billion NYSE listing, highlighting a pivotal market evolution where investor focus is shifting from speculative tokens to the essential, institutional-grade infrastructure underpinning the digital asset ecosystem. While Copper officially states it has “no current IPO plans,” the talks underscore the growing legitimacy and financial maturation of crypto custody services, positioning firms that provide this critical “financial plumbing” as the new darlings of public markets.

Copper IPO Talks Heat Up with Banking Giants Onboard

The landscape of public cryptocurrency companies may be on the verge of welcoming a significant new player. According to sources familiar with the matter, Copper, a prominent institutional crypto custody provider headquartered in London, has initiated early-stage talks about a potential Initial Public Offering. These discussions are reportedly being held with a roster of the world’s most prestigious investment banks, with names like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup (Citi), and Deutsche Bank floated as potential underwriters for the offering. This level of banking interest alone signals the seriousness of the exploration and the perceived legitimacy of Copper’s business model in the eyes of traditional finance.

In a characteristic response that neither confirms nor denies the ongoing deliberations, a Copper spokesperson stated, “As standard practice, Copper regularly assesses a range of potential financing options to support the business and our clients, but we are not planning an IPO.” This carefully worded comment is standard in the pre-IPO phase, allowing the company to gauge market conditions and prepare internally without committing to a public timeline. Sources indicate that a final decision to proceed will heavily depend on the company’s ability to meet specific near-term revenue targets, a key metric that public market investors will scrutinize.

The timing of these talks is strategically significant. They come in the immediate aftermath of a landmark event for the sector: the IPO of Copper’s direct competitor, BitGo (BTGO). BitGo’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange last week, which initially valued the company at approximately $2 billion, has effectively paved the way and set a valuation benchmark. It demonstrated that public market investors have an appetite for companies providing the essential, behind-the-scenes infrastructure for digital assets, often referred to as the “picks and shovels” or the “financial plumbing” of the industry. Copper’s move appears to be a direct attempt to ride this wave of investor enthusiasm.

Why Crypto Custody is Becoming Wall Street’s New Favorite

To understand why firms like Copper are suddenly IPO candidates, one must recognize the fundamental shift in the crypto market’s center of gravity. For years, the public narrative and investor frenzy centered on the assets themselves—Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a myriad of altcoins. Today, the focus is increasingly on the robust, regulated, and reliable infrastructure required to manage these assets at scale, particularly by large institutions. Crypto custody, the secure storage of cryptographic keys controlling digital assets, has transitioned from a niche technical concern to a critical, foundational service.

This demand is being driven by several converging forces. The landmark approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States unlocked a tidal wave of institutional capital, all of which requires compliant, secure custody solutions. Global regulatory frameworks, from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to Singapore’s Monetary Authority, are maturing, mandating stricter standards for asset segregation and safekeeping that only specialized firms can reliably provide. Furthermore, traditional banks, hedge funds, and asset managers are now actively building digital asset offerings, and they will not engage without enterprise-grade custody.

The business model of a firm like Copper is particularly attractive to public market investors for its qualities of recurring revenue and operational resilience. Unlike trading platforms whose income can be highly volatile based on market activity, custody providers typically earn fees based on the value of assets under protection (AUC). This creates a more predictable, annuity-like revenue stream. As Laura Katherine Mann, a partner at White & Case, noted, the next wave of crypto IPOs will emphasize “compliance maturity, recurring revenue, and operational resilience”—attributes that custody firms inherently possess.

The Engine of Institutional Adoption: Core Custody Value Propositions

The surge in custody IPOs isn’t happenstance; it’s built on concrete value pillars that address institutional pain points:

• Mitigating Counterparty Risk: Institutions cannot bear the risk of exchange failures. Dedicated custodians like Copper segregate client assets, ensuring they are not lent out or used as collateral without explicit permission, a critical safeguard.
• Enabling Operational Scale: As institutions add more digital assets to their balance sheets, they need systems that can handle complex settlement, reporting, and tax accounting. Custodians provide this operational backbone.
• Unlocking Additional Yield: Secure custody is the gateway to staking, decentralized finance (DeFi) participation, and lending. By holding assets safely, institutions can then permission them for revenue-generating activities.
• Ensuring Regulatory Compliance: Navigating the global patchwork of crypto regulations is a monumental task. Professional custodians invest heavily in compliance programs, acting as a trusted partner for institutions entering the space.

What is Copper? A Deep Dive into the Custody Contender

For those unfamiliar with the company at the heart of these IPO rumors, what is Copper? Founded in 2018, Copper.co is a London-headquartered firm that provides institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure. Its core offering is a custody solution built on Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology. Unlike traditional “cold storage” that relies on single private keys stored offline, MPC splits the key into multiple parts (shards) distributed among different parties. Transactions require collaboration between these parties, eliminating any single point of failure and significantly reducing the risk of theft, both external and internal.

Beyond custody, Copper has developed a suite of services that form a comprehensive prime brokerage offering for the digital age. Its flagship innovation is ClearLoop, a settlement network that connects directly to multiple cryptocurrency exchanges. This allows institutional clients to trade on these venues while their assets remain securely custodied with Copper. Trades settle instantly within the ClearLoop environment, dramatically reducing counterparty risk—the danger that the trading counterparty defaults after a trade is agreed but before it settles—a major concern for large traders.

The company’s leadership has been strategically bolstered to appeal to both regulators and institutional clients. In October 2024, Copper appointed Amar Kuchinad, a veteran with experience at Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), as its Global CEO. This was followed in March 2025 by the hiring of Tammy Weinrib as Chief Compliance Officer for the Americas, signaling a deep commitment to navigating the complex U.S. regulatory landscape. Copper serves a clientele of hedge funds, asset managers, family offices, and corporates, positioning itself as the bridge between traditional finance and the new digital asset ecosystem.

Copper vs. The Competition: A Crowded Arena for Institutional Trust

The potential Copper IPO would place it squarely in a competitive and rapidly consolidating market. Its most direct comparison is with BitGo, the recently public competitor. Both offer institutional custody, staking, and lending services. A key differentiator often cited is technological architecture: while Copper champions its MPC-based custody, BitGo has historically utilized a multi-signature (multi-sig) model, often involving a combination of hot and cold wallets. The market’s reception of BitGo’s post-IPO performance—initial pop followed by volatility—will be closely studied by Copper and its bankers as they model their own offering.

The competitive landscape extends beyond pure-play custodians. Major cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken offer institutional custody arms (Coinbase Custody, Kraken Financial), leveraging their massive scale and integrated trading platforms. These giants benefit from a powerful network effect but may face perceptions of conflicts of interest, as they also operate large trading venues. Furthermore, traditional financial giants are entering the fray. BNY Mellon, the world’s largest custodian bank, now offers digital asset custody, bringing over 200 years of trust and an existing client base worth trillions. Similarly, Societe Generale’s Forge subsidiary provides custody services.

Copper’s competitive edge likely lies in its focus and technological agility. As a dedicated infrastructure provider without a competing exchange business, it can market itself as a truly neutral, client-aligned partner. Its MPC technology and ClearLoop settlement network are seen as innovative differentiators designed specifically for the active trading and complex needs of sophisticated institutions. In a market where security and trust are paramount, Copper’s strategy is to compete on the sophistication of its “plumbing,” not just the size of its brand.

The 2025-2026 Crypto IPO Wave: From Speculation to Infrastructure

Copper’s exploration is not an isolated event but a defining chapter in a broader narrative: the crypto industry’s coming of age in public markets. The year 2025 served as a watershed moment, shattering the long-standing “IPO ceiling” for crypto firms. Driven by clearer regulation and a more favorable stance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), giants like Circle (USDC issuer), Bullish (owner of CoinDesk), and Gemini made their public debuts. According to PitchBook data, at least 11 crypto IPOs raised a combined $14.6 billion in 2025, a staggering leap from the paltry $310 million raised in 2024.

The performance of these listings, however, has painted a clear picture for investors. The market has sharply distinguished between different business models. Companies offering essential infrastructure and recurring revenue models—like BitGo in custody, or perhaps future listings in areas like blockchain node infrastructure or compliance software—have been rewarded. In contrast, firms whose fortunes are tightly and directly coupled with volatile retail trading volumes or speculative token performance have faced much tougher sledding post-IPO, often trading below their offer prices.

This sets the stage for 2026. As White & Case’s Laura Katherine Mann observes, if 2025 was the year of digital asset treasuries and exchanges, 2026 is shaping up to be “the year of financial infrastructure.” Investors are now looking for the stable, fee-generating, regulatory-compliant businesses that form the backbone of the financial system, whether traditional or digital. A Copper IPO would be a textbook example of this trend. It represents a bet not on the price of Bitcoin tomorrow, but on the enduring need for secure, professional asset servicing as digital assets become a permanent, trillion-dollar feature of the global financial landscape. Its success would further validate this infrastructure investment thesis and likely trigger a new wave of similar listings from other “picks and shovels” providers in the crypto ecosystem.