Copper Secures Abu Dhabi Approval to Offer Crypto Custody for Tokenized Money Market Funds

The crypto custodian landscape has entered a new phase with Copper recently obtaining regulatory clearance from Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), enabling the platform to provide secure custody and trading services for tokenized money market funds. This regulatory milestone marks a significant expansion in Copper’s service offerings, particularly as institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure continues to mature.

Regulatory Breakthrough Expands Custody Services

Copper’s FSRA approval represents a crucial validation for the crypto custody sector. The London-based company can now facilitate client access to tokenized money market funds—including BlackRock’s BUIDL token—while allowing these digital assets to function as collateral in derivatives trading. This dual functionality addresses a key demand from sophisticated market participants seeking to maximize yield on their collateral positions.

The approval comes as the Financial Services Regulatory Authority in Abu Dhabi positions itself as a forward-thinking regulator, encouraging institutional participation in digital finance. For Copper, this breakthrough enables a previously unavailable revenue stream while strengthening its competitive positioning in the global crypto custody market.

Strategic Partnerships with Major Tokenization Players

Copper has fortified its market entry through partnerships with leading tokenization ecosystem participants. Securitize, which serves as the transfer agent and tokenization platform for BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund on Ethereum, represents a critical connection. Additional partnerships with Franklin Templeton, Ondo, and Hashnote round out Copper’s positioning across the tokenized financial instruments space.

These collaborations demonstrate how crypto custody providers are becoming central infrastructure for real-world assets (RWA) transitioning to blockchain networks. Securitize’s role tokenizing BlackRock’s fund on Ethereum establishes clear pathways for institutional investors to access blockchain-based financial products while maintaining custody confidence.

Market Opportunity in Growing Real-World Asset Space

The tokenized Treasury and money market fund sector continues expanding at a remarkable pace, reflecting broader adoption of blockchain technology for traditional finance applications. Digital asset firms and traditional finance institutions have been accelerating their integration of bonds, private credit, and money market funds onto blockchain rails—a strategic shift aimed at operational efficiency and settlement speed improvements.

According to market tracking data, the tokenized Treasury market has demonstrated substantial growth, with assets expanding significantly as institutions recognize the operational benefits of blockchain-based trading. This expansion creates natural opportunities for custody providers like Copper to capture a growing share of institutional digital asset flows.

Amar Kuchinad, Copper’s newly appointed global CEO and former Securities and Exchange Commission adviser, emphasized the strategic significance: “If the Fed maintains elevated interest rates over an extended period, these tokenized money market funds could substantially boost returns for derivative market participants, who would be earning income from collateral they provide to counterparties.”

Kuchinad’s observation points to an important economic dynamic—participants in derivatives markets could optimize returns by leveraging yield-bearing tokenized assets as margin collateral, creating a virtuous cycle for adoption. This commentary reflects how crypto custody infrastructure is evolving beyond simple asset safekeeping to enable sophisticated financial strategies unavailable in traditional markets.

The combination of Copper’s regulatory approval, strategic partnerships, and favorable market conditions suggests the crypto custody sector continues maturing as an essential component of institutional digital asset infrastructure.