Both appointments are effective immediately.

Jim joins the Copper Board following three years as Executive Chairman of Fnality International, a bank consortium start-up which looked to produce a regulated digital payment leg for wholesale financial markets using blockchain technology.

Prior to Fnality, Jim enjoyed a prominent senior management career in financial services, primarily with Deutsche Bank where his roles included Global Chief Operating Officer for the Global Transaction Banking business, Global Head of Foreign Exchange and Commodities trading and Global Head of Institutional Client sales. Jim joins the Board alongside other board roles across the retail and charity sectors.

Dr Strickland comes to Copper from Elements Digital where he was Chief Compliance Officer. His previous roles include the Global Anti-Money Laundering Officer/ Head of Financial Crime Compliance for Sotheby’s auction house, Head of Financial Crime Operations and Nominated Officer for Deutsche Bank Operations International and Head of Anti-Bribery & Corruption for Barclaycard.

Dr Strickland has worked globally with many central, regional and global banks, regulators, national FIU’s, anti-corruption bodies and public and private partnerships assisting them in building and enhancing their capability to combat economic crime locally. He is an accomplished public and academic speaker and has spoken at the House of Commons on the use of technology in combating fraud in economic crime.

These hires further bolster Copper’s senior executive leadership team following the recent appointments of Lord Phillip Hamond as Chair, Sam Goh as Chief Financial Officer and Stefano Maestri as Chief Technology Officer and John Willian as Advisor alongside the promotion of Mike Roberts to Global Head of Sales and the addition of Sascha Rangoonwala as Managing Director, EMEA.

Dmitry Tokarev, Chief Executive Officer, Copper, said: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Jim and Stephen as we move into an exciting phase in Copper’s journey. Both of them bring outstanding experience and wisdom to Copper and I look forward to working with them as we reinforce Copper’s position as a leader in the digital asset sector.”

Jim Turley, Non-Executive Director, Copper, said: “This is a truly exciting time for the digital assets sector as the world looks to adopt digital and blockchain technology to underpin financial markets. I have no doubt that Copper is well-positioned to seize the opportunities that will be presented as a result of the ongoing shifts in financial services, and I look forward to assisting the Company as it executes its strategy.”

Dr Stephen Strickland, Chief Compliance Director, Copper, said: “Throughout my career I have sought to implement the highest industry standards for compliance and anti-corruption. At such a critical time for the digital assets sector, I look forward to upholding best practices for digital assets institutional digital asset custody and trading solutions compliance at Copper.”