Copper’s Barber: Traditional Financial Players Want to See Regulation in Crypto

Traditional financial players are very accustomed to following strict regulatory guidelines and digital assets pose a challenge, according to Copper’s Barber.

article-image

Glenn Barber, Copper.co, (center) at DAS NYC 2021; Photo by Mike Lawrence

share

key takeaways

  • Glenn Barber recently joined Copper from the traditional financial space
  • Traditional players that are looking to get involved in crypto will probably feel more comfortable with more defined regulations, he said

Glenn Barber, head of sales in the Americas at Copper, sat down with Blockworks during the New York Digital Assets Summit to discuss the state of the cryptocurrency industry and how companies are staying ahead. 

“I’ve found that things move really quickly,” Barber said, speaking about changes in the space. 

“Firms that want to be successful in crypto really do have to say ‘okay, what does the market cycle look like, how are we going to deliver that,’ and that is a big responsibility.” 

Barber started his role in August 2021 after a career in traditional finance. Cryptocurrencies can be intimidating for investors and institutions that are accustomed to strict regulations and protocols. 

“One of the evolving themes of traditional financial players getting into the space is the question of how to maintain fiduciary responsibility,” he said. “I think people from this space not take for granted, but are just so used to the embedded layers of investor protection that the various regulatory regimes over decades have put into place.” 

Newcomers into space are concerned about security and serving clients the best they can and regulatory measures will hopefully help traditional financial players feel more comfortable entering the digital asset space, Barber said. 

Watch the full interview below and all of the panel videos from DAS here


Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets? Join us in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket. Buy it now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

morpho 2 graphic.png

Research

Utilizing a ‘DeFi Mullet’ approach, Coinbase’s Bitcoin-backed loans integration with Morpho demonstrates a powerful blueprint for CEXs to monetize dormant assets by expanding adoption of wrapped products (cbBTC, USDC) while also supporting native and/or preferred DeFi ecosystems (Base) which can further lead to downstream growth in onchain liquidity and increased utilization of the related assets.

article-image

The S&P 500 quickly erased gains spurred by optimism that President Trump may push back the start date for his new tariff policies

article-image

A new report from Centrifuge and Keyrock sets out the bull, bear and base cases for tokenized private credit and RWAs.

article-image

Exploring theories behind April 5, Satoshi’s cryptic “birth date” – and potential clues about his real age

article-image

The cell provider is offloading data to XNET’s Wi-Fi network

article-image

While overall VC spending is on the rise, web3 gaming’s being left in the dust

article-image

Tariff and interest rate concerns overshadowed a positive March jobs report