British banking behemoth Barclays is set to invest in crypto financial services provider Copper.
According to Sky News, the bank will participate in a capital round that will also involve other investors and will be finalized soon.
According to the publication’s sources, Barclays is anticipated to invest a “very small sum in the millions of dollars.”
Since a few months ago, Copper has been trying to raise at least $500 million, hoping for a valuation in the billions of dollars, but regulatory problems have arisen in the UK.
In a Series B funding round last year, the company raised $50 million, and later received an extra $25 million from billionaire British macro investment icon Alan Howard. Philip Hammond, a former UK chancellor, is one of its advisors.
Established in 2018, Copper provides custody, prime broking, and settlement services to institutional investors.
According to a May Financial Times article, Barclays has experience with crypto and has already invested in Elwood Technologies, a provider of institutional crypto services. In a capital round that gave Galaxy Digital a $500 million valuation, the bank participated alongside Goldman Sachs and Mike Novogratz’s company.