Crypto custody firm Copper is pursuing a sale valued at about $500 million. Coindesk recently reported, citing two sources, that Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald is advising on the sale.

Copper's core asset is seen as its ClearLoop settlement system, which removes settlement risk by allowing network participants to conduct delivery-versus-payment trades while keeping assets in custody and off-chain. Copper exited its corporate custody business in 2023 and has since focused on ClearLoop.

Copper was also reported to have considered an IPO earlier this year. Coindesk said the crypto IPO market has stalled this year as bitcoin trades below $80,000 and AI absorbs most investment capital.

Crypto mergers and acquisitions have shown signs of picking up this year. Earlier this year, Mastercard announced it would acquire British stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, and Kraken parent Payward acquired derivatives platform Bitnomial.

Bullish, the owner of Coindesk, announced it would acquire Equinities for $4.25 billion to build tokenised securities infrastructure.

This week, London-based bank Standard Chartered said it would buy the remaining stake in crypto custody subsidiary Zodia Custody. A few weeks earlier, Standard Chartered's venture capital unit was reported to have acquired a stake in crypto trading firm GSR.