Copper Appoints New CEO to Strengthen U.S. Presence

Crypto custodian firm Copper has announced the appointment of Amar Kuchinad as its new global chief executive, aiming to enhance its presence in the U.S., Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi. This leadership change comes as Copper seeks to bolster its institutional focus and expand its market reach.

In a recent blog post, Copper expressed excitement over Kuchinad's appointment, who succeeds founder Dmitry Tokarev. Kuchinad will lead the company's growth strategy, emphasizing an “institutional-first approach” to accelerate its expansion in key markets.

Tokarev, who has served as CEO for seven years, will remain involved as a founder director and strategic shareholder. Before joining Copper, Kuchinad was managing director at Goldman Sachs and a senior policy advisor at the U.S.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He also founded Electronifie, which created an SEC-registered alternative trading platform.

In his new role, Kuchinad will oversee ClearLoop, Copper’s custody and trading network, which currently processes 20 million trades monthly, with a total notional value of $100 billion.

This leadership transition comes in light of increased scrutiny surrounding Copper following investigations that revealed connections to sanctioned individuals. A report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists highlighted a transfer of over $4.2 million in cryptocurrency to Jonatan Zimenkov, a Russian national linked to an arms-dealing network. While the report indicated that Copper did not violate regulations at the time of the transactions, it raised concerns about the firm’s compliance practices.

In March 2022, Tokarev publicly condemned the Kremlin’s military actions against Ukraine, stating on Copper’s website that “the Russian government does not speak for every Russian. They do not even speak for the majority of them.”