Copper CEO Amar Kuchinad has left the crypto custody company four months into a sale process that reportedly values the firm at $500 million despite potential offers near $200 million.

Copper CEO leaves during buyer search

According to a report on Sep. 8, citing two people familiar with the matter, Kuchinad had left Copper while the company continued seeking a buyer. The report did not name a temporary or permanent replacement, disclose the reason for his exit, or say when he completed his final day.

Kuchinad’s departure has come during the fourth month of the sale process. Copper appointed financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald to find potential buyers and market the company at a reported valuation of $500 million, according to people familiar with the process.

The custody firm began exploring a sale by at least May, when the same publication first reported that Cantor was handling the process. Copper had received acquisition interest before appointing the financial firm, although the May report did not identify the interested parties or confirm that any bidder had submitted a formal offer.

By August, potential buyers had emerged, but the reported bids were near $200 million. A transaction at that price would be $300 million below the amount sought by Copper and around 90% below the valuation the business reached during the previous crypto market cycle.

No buyer has been identified publicly, and Copper has not announced a sale agreement. The available reports also do not disclose the number of bidders, the conditions attached to their proposals, or whether Cantor has changed the company’s asking price.

Copper’s ownership has not released financial information showing how it arrived at the $500 million valuation. Without a signed agreement, the offers mentioned in the reports remain part of an ongoing process rather than a completed transaction.

Copper’s valuation has fallen from its 2021 peak

During funding discussions in 2021, Copper sought to raise as much as $500 million at a valuation of about $2.5 billion. The company was valued at more than $2 billion at its height, placing the current reported asking price at less than one-quarter of that level.

Even Copper’s $500 million target represents a steep reduction from its previous valuation. Offers near $200 million would cut the difference further, although neither Copper nor Cantor has publicly confirmed the reported figures.

Founded in 2018, Copper provides custody, collateral management, and settlement services for institutional clients trading digital assets. Its ClearLoop network allows clients to settle trades with participating exchanges while keeping assets under custody rather than moving them onto an exchange before every transaction.

Coinbase, Bitfinex, and Kraken are among the companies listed as ClearLoop clients. By reducing the need to place assets directly on trading venues, the system addresses the counterparty exposure institutions face when transferring funds to an exchange for execution.

Institutional custody remains a contested part of the digital asset industry as banks and crypto-native firms compete for clients. As crypto.news reported in August, Coinbase Custody, BitGo and Fireblocks serve the existing digital asset market, while BNY Mellon, State Street and Standard Chartered have built or acquired infrastructure for institutional tokenization and custody.

The same report noted that Standard Chartered agreed in May to acquire the crypto custody operations of Zodia Custody, a company the bank had helped establish. Unlike Copper’s reported sale effort, that transaction involved a traditional financial institution bringing a specialist custody business into its existing operations.

Growing bank participation gives prospective buyers a clearer commercial reason to consider custody assets while adding competition for independent providers. Copper’s client network and off-exchange settlement system could therefore form part of a bidder’s assessment, though none of the reports have identified the features drawing interest or the reasons bids have remained below the asking price.

Leadership changes continue at Copper

Kuchinad took charge of Copper in October 2024 after founder and former CEO Dmitry Tokarev left the top position. Before joining the company, Kuchinad worked at Goldman Sachs and served as an adviser to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

His SEC experience gave Copper a leader familiar with American financial regulation at a time when custody rules were becoming a central issue for institutional crypto services. However, the sources did not say whether his departure was connected to the sale process, Copper’s valuation, its operations, or any regulatory matter.

Alongside the CEO’s exit, Copper has recently added two executives to its leadership team. The company named Elin Cherry as chief compliance officer and Sean Bowen as chief operating officer, according to announcements published through Copper’s LinkedIn page.

Cherry’s appointment places a new executive over compliance while Copper considers offers, and Bowen takes charge of operations during the same period. Copper has not said whether either executive will assume additional responsibilities following Kuchinad’s departure.

The company also has not disclosed who is leading negotiations with Cantor or whether its board has appointed an interim chief executive. The reports do not provide a deadline for receiving final bids, completing due diligence, or deciding whether to abandon the sale.

U.S. custody market draws more regulated competitors

For U.S. investors and institutions, Copper’s reported sale comes as federally supervised companies expand into digital asset custody. 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.

An Aug. 19 report said OCC digital asset approval activity had increased eightfold under the current administration, according to Comptroller Jonathan Gould. The agency’s proposed GENIUS Act framework also covers custody, reserves, redemptions, risk controls and regulatory examinations for payment stablecoin issuers under its supervision.

Competition is also developing outside the United States. In South Korea, BitGo Korea obtained virtual asset service provider registration from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit in August, allowing it to develop institutional custody and transfer services.

A separate report on corporate access said Hana Financial Group owns 25% of BitGo Korea, while SK Telecom holds a 10% stake. BitGo had not disclosed a launch date, supported assets, custody fees or named clients at the time of that report.

Copper, meanwhile, has not announced a buyer, accepted an offer or revised its valuation, leaving the Cantor-led sale process open as the company operates without its recently appointed chief executive.

Treasury yields have reached fresh 2026 highs, while the 30-year yield approaches 5.26%. Meanwhile, the Treasury prepares to increase its buyback program from September 9.

The move now faces rising yields that could weaken the liquidity boost expected to support crypto prices.

The Treasury market has shifted since the rally that followed August 19. At that time, traders priced in the potential impact of larger Treasury buybacks. However, yields have since moved higher, creating a tougher test for that market view.

Rising Treasury Yields Challenge the Liquidity Narrative

The 30-year Treasury yield has moved toward 5.26%, marking another high for 2026. At the same time, longer-term borrowing costs have risen despite expectations for stronger Treasury demand.

Therefore, the move raises questions about whether buybacks can offset broader pressure across the bond market.

Treasury buybacks can support market liquidity by purchasing existing government debt. However, they do not automatically remove every force pushing yields higher. Instead, other factors can continue lifting yields even as the Treasury increases purchases.

The latest yield move therefore creates a direct test for the liquidity narrative supporting crypto markets. Higher yields can increase the appeal of government debt relative to riskier assets. Meanwhile, they can also raise financing costs across markets and reduce the impact of easier liquidity conditions.

September 9 Buybacks Face Their First Major Test

The Treasury is scheduled to enter the market with the larger buyback program on September 9. Until then, markets can only price the expected effects of the policy change. Consequently, the coming operations could provide a clearer signal about their influence on Treasury liquidity.

The rally after August 19 reflected expectations around larger Treasury purchases before actual buying began. Now, rising yields have placed those expectations under greater pressure. The market must determine whether real purchases can produce the support that earlier pricing anticipated.

However, the buyback program does not operate in isolation from broader Treasury market conditions. Demand, supply, inflation expectations, monetary policy, and term premiums can also influence longer-term yields. As a result, stronger Treasury purchases may support liquidity without immediately forcing long-term yields lower.

Bitcoin Faces a More Complicated Macro Backdrop

Bitcoin has benefited from broader liquidity expectations, but higher Treasury yields can challenge that setup. The cryptocurrency market often reacts to changes in financial conditions and expectations for future liquidity. Therefore, sustained increases in long-term yields could create additional pressure on risk assets.

The current setup does not automatically signal a deep Bitcoin correction. Instead, it shows that the liquidity argument now faces a stronger macro counterforce. Higher yields could limit the effect of Treasury operations if other market pressures remain strong.

The September 9 buyback activity should therefore provide important evidence for the broader liquidity thesis. If Treasury purchases improve market conditions, risk assets could receive additional support. Conversely, continued yield increases would suggest that other forces remain stronger than the buyback effect.

The bond market has already challenged the assumption that larger buybacks would quickly ease financial conditions. Now, actual Treasury operations will show whether those expectations match market reality. Until then, rising yields remain the clearest sign that liquidity alone does not control the direction of rates.

For crypto markets, the outcome could shape expectations around Bitcoin’s next major move. A stronger Treasury liquidity effect could reinforce the bullish macro case for digital assets. Yet, persistent yield pressure could make that case harder to sustain without additional supportive factors.

Robinhood is deepening its push into US event trading by taking equity stakes in Crypto.com and its newly created prediction markets spin-off, OG.com. The brokerage says the multi-year arrangement is designed to let it route retail event contracts through OG.com’s CFTC-regulated derivatives infrastructure.

According to a Tuesday announcement from Robinhood, the rollout starts for eligible customers in the United States, with Robinhood directing event contracts to OG.com’s CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse. The companies did not disclose how large Robinhood’s equity positions are, but the stakes are priced using the valuations set in an earlier investment by Citadel Securities.

Key takeaways

• Robinhood will route eligible retail event contracts through OG.com’s CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse.
• Robinhood will receive initial equity stakes in both Crypto.com and OG.com; deal values were not publicly disclosed.
• The agreement follows OG.com’s spin-off from Crypto.com at a reported $5 billion valuation.
• The move comes as prediction market products face intensifying state-level legal scrutiny over whether they should be treated like gambling.
• OG.com plans to expand beyond prediction markets into broader derivatives products, including futures and perpetual contracts.

How the OG.com infrastructure fits Robinhood’s event trading

The operational core of the deal is straightforward: Robinhood intends to use OG.com’s regulated setup for event contracts. In practical terms, this means customers participating through Robinhood’s platform will be connected to a derivatives exchange and clearinghouse operating under CFTC oversight, rather than relying solely on other third-party venues.

Robinhood’s choice is notable given how quickly the brokerage has positioned prediction markets as part of its retail-facing growth story. The announcement places OG.com alongside Robinhood’s other CFTC-regulated market infrastructure partner, Kalshi, which was used when Robinhood first launched its prediction markets hub in March 2025.

Equity stakes and valuations tied to Citadel Securities

Robinhood will obtain equity positions in both Crypto.com and OG.com as part of the agreement. The stakes are “priced at the valuations established” by Citadel Securities’ earlier investment in those platforms, per the announcement.

While the companies declined to reveal the number of shares or dollar value of Robinhood’s holdings, the structure matters for investors tracking whether Robinhood is treating event trading as a strategic line of business or a temporary test. Equity participation typically suggests longer-term commitment and alignment incentives beyond a pure technology or routing relationship.

Robinhood’s decision also arrives less than two months after reporting that it was in talks with Crypto.com to expand its prediction markets offering, according to earlier coverage from Cointelegraph: Robinhood crypto.com prediction markets.

OG.com’s spin-off timing and expansion plans

OG.com emerged as a separate entity from Crypto.com, with the spin-off reported at a $5 billion valuation. In Tuesday’s announcement, OG.com CEO Kris Marszalek framed the platform as operating independently from the crypto exchange business and described an ambition to broaden its product toolkit.

Specifically, Marszalek said OG.com intends to expand beyond prediction markets into futures and perpetual contracts. That matters because event contracts are only one segment of the broader derivatives landscape. If OG.com’s planned expansion proceeds, it could influence how retail demand migrates from strictly event-based payoffs toward other forms of derivatives exposure—though the timing and regulatory pathways for those products would still be subject to the relevant jurisdictional approvals.

Growth momentum meets a mounting legal battle

Robinhood’s new infrastructure partnership lands amid escalating uncertainty for prediction markets in the US. The sector’s growth has been strong, but legal challenges have increasingly targeted how these products are classified under state law.

Robinhood reported that event contracts generated $156 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2026, according to Robinhood’s quarterly results release: Robinhood reports second quarter 2026 results. That figure represents a more than tenfold increase compared with the prior year and also placed event contracts ahead of Robinhood’s equities transaction revenue and its reported crypto-related revenue for the quarter.

Analyst estimates also suggest significant upside if the model scales. Bernstein analysts projected in July that Robinhood’s revenue—including prediction markets—could reach $1.7 billion by 2028, as referenced in earlier Cointelegraph coverage: Bernstein estimates.

However, the legal pressure on prediction markets has intensified. According to Cointelegraph, operators have faced efforts by US states to apply gambling laws to sports event contracts. A key example is litigation involving Kalshi, where a Nevada judge extended a ban preventing the company from offering event contracts in the state without a gaming license. The ruling rejected the argument that the contracts were swaps subject exclusively to CFTC oversight, as discussed in Cointelegraph reporting: Nevada judge extends ban.

Last week, New Jersey petitioned the US Supreme Court on whether states can regulate sports contracts offered on CFTC-regulated prediction market platforms. Cointelegraph reported on the development in New Jersey Supreme Court filing, noting that New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport argued that companies claim to provide legal sports betting nationwide while refusing to comply with state gambling laws.

What to watch next for Robinhood and the sector

Robinhood’s use of OG.com’s CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse may strengthen its compliance posture for event contracts, but it does not remove the broader risk stemming from the state-federal jurisdiction fight over classification. Traders and users should watch how the Supreme Court proceedings evolve—and whether OG.com’s planned expansion beyond prediction markets faces additional regulatory hurdles as these products scale.

Trading platform Robinhood’s blockchain network is expected to generate as much as $160 million in annual fees by 2028, Bernstein analysts forecast in a Tuesday report shared with Cointelegraph.

The analysts cited growing demand for tokenized stock trading on the network, which grew to account for about 27% of the chain’s total trading volume, while native memecoin pairs trading decreased to 36% of network activity, down from 100% at launch on July 1.

Bernstein said the growing demand for tokenized stocks on the Robinhood chain is driven by automated market-making pools on Uniswap that pair memecoins with stock tokens and create “reflexive demand” for both sides.

In a little more than two months since launch, the Robinhood chain has emerged as the leading blockchain network by daily fees, generating $2.13 million in the past 24 hours, according to DefiLlama. 

On July 20, Bernstein raised its price target on Robinhood (HOOD) stock to $160 from $130 per share and maintained its Outperform rating, forecasting growth in the platform’s prediction market business and tokenized equities. The company’s Nasdaq-traded shares were little changed at last look in Tuesday’s premarket activity, according to Yahoo Finance data.

However, Robinhood’s blockchain-based equities recently drew criticism from Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, who said the platform’s tokenized stocks providing economic exposure to AMC shares have no affiliation with the company. Aron called the offering “outrageous” and said that AMC will request an investigation from its outside securities counsel.

Related: Fomo overtakes Pump.fun in daily revenue on Solana

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Robinhood has taken equity stakes in Crypto.com and its newly spun-off prediction market platform OG.com as part of a multi-year deal to use OG.com’s regulated infrastructure for event contracts.

Under the agreement, Robinhood will route retail event contracts through OG.com’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse, with the rollout beginning Tuesday for eligible US customers.

According to Tuesday’s announcement, the online brokerage will receive initial equity stakes in both Crypto.com and OG.com, with the stakes priced at the valuations established by an earlier Citadel Securities investment in the platforms. The companies did not disclose the size or value of Robinhood’s holdings.

The deal follows OG.com’s spin-off from Crypto.com at a $5 billion valuation and comes less than two months after reports that Robinhood was in talks with Crypto.com to expand its prediction markets offering.

OG.com will operate independently from the crypto exchange, with CEO Kris Marszalek saying the platform plans to expand beyond prediction markets into futures and perpetual contracts.

Related: Arcus launches tokenized perp positions on Robinhood Chain

Latest move expands prediction market partnerships

Robinhood launched its prediction markets hub in March 2025 with CFTC-regulated exchange Kalshi and later expanded its prediction market infrastructure.

The business has grown rapidly. Event contracts generated $156 million in revenue for Robinhood in the second quarter, up more than tenfold from a year earlier and surpassing its $129 million in equities transaction revenue and $100 million from crypto.

Bernstein analysts estimated in July that Robinhood’s revenue, including prediction markets, could reach $1.7 billion by 2028.

To be sure, prediction market operators have also faced a growing number of legal challenges from US states seeking to apply their gambling laws to sports event contracts.

In April, a Nevada judge extended a ban preventing Kalshi from offering event contracts in the state without a gaming license, finding that the products were effectively indistinguishable from traditional betting. The ruling rejected Kalshi’s argument that the contracts are swaps subject exclusively to CFTC oversight.

The legal wrangling escalated last week with New Jersey petitioning the US Supreme Court to weigh in on whether states can regulate sports contracts offered on CFTC-regulated prediction markets.

In a post announcing the move, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said companies such as Kalshi claim to offer legal sports betting nationwide while refusing to comply with state gambling laws, calling on the Supreme Court to resolve the jurisdictional dispute.

Source: Jennifer Davenport

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