Crypto firm Copper poaches BoA team for prime broker product
Crypto startup Copper has poached a team of Bank of America executives to build a prime brokerage product.
The London-based crypto custodian said it is creating a new prime infrastructure offering led by Michael Roberts, who joins from the Bank of America where he was a managing director and head of the bank’s prime platform for Europe, Middle East and North Africa.
Copper, which is advised by the UK’s former chancellor Philip Hammond, is also poaching former Bank of America directors Adam Groom and Paul Barham for the team, as well as Ben Carr and Ross Budgen.
Boris Bohrer-Bilowitzki, chief revenue officer at Copper said that the company is committed to producing “the gold standard” in crypto asset custody and trading.
“Part of that commitment means securing top-tier talent to ensure we remain at the forefront,” Bohrer-Bilowitzki said, adding that Roberts, Groom, Barham, Carr and Budgen are well placed “to develop infrastructure to empower prime brokers.”
Michael Roberts, the newly appointed head of prime at Copper, said he has “watched Copper from afar for some years now.”
He joins a growing list of senior figures to turn their backs on the world of traditional finance for crypto.
The head of the Bank of England’s fintech hub recently quit after a year in the role to join crypto startup Fireblocks. In January, the boss of the London Metals Exchange quit for a role at the helm of digital asset custodian Komainu.
Read more: Head of London Metal Exchange quits for crypto start up