Copper, the London-based digital asset infrastructure provider, today announced the close of a $50 million Series B funding round.

The investment round was co-led by leading B2B software investor Dawn Capital and Target Global, who led Copper’s Series A round. Also participating in the round were enterprise fintech specialist VC firm Illuminate Financial Management, Copper’s existing investors LocalGlobe and MMC Ventures, and a number of industry-renowned fintech executives and entrepreneurs serving as strategic angels. The round follows Copper’s Series A funding in February 2020, bringing total capital raised to date to $60 million.

Copper will use the funds to broaden its international footprint, particularly across the US and Asia, with plans to open at least two new regional offices. Copper will also announce key high-profile hires across its strategy, operations, and business development departments, leading to a tripling of headcount by the end of 2021. And significant investment will be made to further develop Copper’s product suite.

Founded in 2018 by CEO Dmitry Tokarev, Copper provides a gateway into the cryptoasset space for institutional investors by offering custody, prime brokerage, and settlements. Its proprietary ClearLoop technology connects the universe of cryptocurrency exchanges in one secure trading loop — with instant, offline settlement across its integrated networks.

Institutional investment in digital assets is increasing at pace, with institutional ownership forecast to rise from 10% today to 30% by 2025. Assets under custody at Copper increased more than 40x since Q3 2020. Copper has also rapidly expanded its list of active institutional clients, currently serving more than 200 customers, which include traders, wealth companies, private banks, cryptocurrency funds and family offices.

In this rapidly evolving and expanding market, Copper is reducing the barriers to entry for institutional investors by providing the infrastructure to trade high volumes of cryptocurrency quickly and securely across multiple exchanges. To date, Copper has integrated more than 25 major exchanges into its ClearLoop and Walled Garden networks.

Dmitry Tokarev, founder and CEO of Copper, said: “Copper has achieved tremendous growth over the past 12 months. I am incredibly grateful to our talented and growing team whose hard work is reflected, in part, by this highly successful funding round. I would also like to express my thanks to our investors who continue to support Copper and our ambitious plans to expand across the globe, and cement ClearLoop as the go-to for the clearing and custody of digital assets. Their backing, and continued support from our strong client base, is a testament to the quality of the business we are building.

“It is no secret that that interest in owning digital assets has grown exponentially, evident from the influx of institutional investors in Bitcoin, as well as other layer one protocols like Ethereum and Ripple. As Copper enters its next phase of growth, we will continue to react to the market and provide the services that investors need; to elevate the standards of digital asset security, trading and clearing across the board.”

Josh Bell, General Partner at Dawn Capital, said: “With the proliferation of institutional investment in digital assets over the last few years, we had been tracking Copper since its entry to the market just three years ago. It is rare to find a team that so expertly understands not only traditional asset management, but that of digital assets and how to marry the two worlds to provide institutional-grade infrastructure that truly meets investors’ requirements. So, we are delighted to be supporting Dmitry and the Copper team in their next phase of growth, and believe they are perfectly placed to deliver the new industry-standard in digital asset custody and clearing globally.”