Copper's chief executive officer Amar Kuchinad has left the crypto custody firm just four months into a sale process managed by Cantor Fitzgerald, according to a Sept. 8 report citing two people familiar with the matter. The company continues to seek a buyer at a reported $500 million valuation, though potential offers have come in near $200 million.
Kuchinad's departure comes less than two years after he took over from Copper founder Dmitry Tokarev in October 2024. Before joining Copper, Kuchinad worked at Goldman Sachs and served as an adviser to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The report did not name a replacement, disclose the reason for his exit, or specify his final day.
Copper appointed Cantor Fitzgerald to market the company and find potential buyers. The sale process has been underway since at least May, when reports first identified Cantor's role. By August, bidders had submitted offers near $200 million—$300 million below the asking price and roughly 90% below the valuation Copper reached during the previous crypto market cycle.
Copper was founded in 2018 and provides custody, collateral management, and settlement services for institutional clients. Its ClearLoop network allows clients to settle trades with participating exchanges while keeping assets under custody. Coinbase, Bitfinex, and Kraken are listed as ClearLoop clients. During 2021 funding discussions, Copper sought to raise as much as $500 million at a valuation of about $2.5 billion, making the current reported asking price less than one-quarter of that peak.
Alongside the CEO exit, Copper recently named Elin Cherry as chief compliance officer and Sean Bowen as chief operating officer. The company has not announced a buyer, accepted an offer, revised its valuation, or disclosed who is leading negotiations with Cantor.
The institutional custody market is becoming more competitive as regulated players expand. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted conditional national trust bank approvals to several crypto firms since December 2025, including Circle, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity Digital Assets. Standard Chartered also agreed in May to acquire Zodia Custody's crypto custody operations.
