Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
After FTX’s collapse led to financial woes for CoinDesk’s parent company, the cryptocurrency news site is getting acquired. Bullish, a crypto exchange run by former New York Stock Exchange president Tom Farley, purchased the entire site in an undisclosed all-cash deal, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The acquisition won’t affect CoinDesk’s existing management team, with the outlet operating “as an independent subsidiary within Bullish.” CoinDesk will also launch an editorial committee led by former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Matt Murray.
While CoinDesk first exposed the hole in FTX’s balance sheet last November, the aftermath caused issues for its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). DCG is a crypto-focused venture capital company that acquired CoinDesk in 2016 for $500,000. However, DCG’s crypto lender subsidiary, Genesis, had funds tied up in FTX, leading to its collapse. Genesis sued DCG in September in an attempt to recover $620 million in unpaid loans. Both DCG and Genesis also face a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James over claims the companies misled investors and caused the loss of over $1 billion.
2/ I’m incredibly proud of CoinDesk’s growth & development over the last seven years and its transformation into an award-winning media & events company and the most trusted information platform for digital assets
We look forward to seeing Bullish take CoinDesk to the next level
— Barry Silbert (@BarrySilbert) November 20, 2023
Barry Silbert, the founder of DCG, writes on X (formerly Twitter) that CoinDesk was one of the company’s “best investments of all time,” adding he’s “incredibly proud of CoinDesk’s growth & development over the last seven years and its transformation into an award-winning media & events company.”
CoinDesk reported on the news, but its report doesn’t confirm the acquisition. As noted by the Journal, CoinDesk first started exploring a potential sale in January and laid off around 16 percent of workers in August.
“With its acclaimed editorial coverage, premier events and market-leading data and indices, CoinDesk continues to shape the global crypto and blockchain ecosystem,” Farley says in a statement. “Bullish will immediately inject capital into several of CoinDesk’s most exciting growth initiatives which will power the launch of new services, events and products.”
Bullish is also in the running to purchase what’s left of FTX, the Journal reported earlier this month, potentially allowing the company to reboot the fallen exchange.
Update November 20th, 10:20AM ET: Added clarification that DCG’s Genesis had funds tied up in FTX.
