Lord Hammond to Step Down as Copper Chair in U.S. Pivot

Former UK chancellor Lord Philip Hammond is preparing to leave his role as chair of London-based crypto custodian Copper, as the company tilts its growth plans toward the United States.

Copper has begun recruiting a replacement and expects to name an experienced American finance executive before the end of 2025.

Hammond, who took over the chair in early 2023 after serving as a senior adviser since October 2021, is expected to remain a shareholder and has been involved in the handover process, according to the report.

The impending change caps a volatile period for Copper’s UK strategy. In December 2024, the firm withdrew, again, its bid to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), three years after first applying. Copper said it would prioritize growth in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East instead.

To bridge regulatory certainty, Copper built a patchwork of approvals outside Britain. Its Swiss unit joined VQF, the self-regulatory organization recognized by FINMA, enabling operations under Swiss AML oversight.

In the Gulf, Copper has secured FSRA/ADGM approvals tied to capital-markets activities and custody for tokenized instruments.

The U.S. has already become a core commercial beachhead for Copper. In March, Cantor Fitzgerald chose Copper and Anchorage Digital as custodians and collateral managers for its new global Bitcoin financing unit, launched with $2 billion in initial capital, an alignment that underscores Copper’s pursuit of large U.S. institutional flows.

Leadership has shifted too. Copper appointed Amar Kuchinad, an ex-Goldman Sachs MD and former SEC policy adviser, as global CEO in October 2024, succeeding founder Dmitry Tokarev; Kuchinad is based mainly in New York, aligning the company’s center of gravity with U.S. institutions.

Copper’s board aims to finalize an American successor by year-end. A U.S.-based chair, alongside the Cantor mandate and New York-anchored leadership, would consolidate Copper’s U.S. strategy while it keeps Swiss and Abu Dhabi structures for cross-border clients.

Copper’s backers include Barclays, reported to have taken a stake in 2022, and hedge-fund billionaire Alan Howard, who led a $25 million extension to Copper’s Series B.

Hammond’s time at Copper was marked by public advocacy for clearer UK rules and by high-profile partnerships and investors. He became chair in January 2023 following a stint as senior adviser from October 2021, and repeatedly warned that the UK risked losing ground to jurisdictions moving faster. Finextra; Ledger Insights.

Hammond also chairs embedded-finance firm Railsr, reflecting a broader portfolio of private-sector roles after leaving government.