Bullish, Led by Former NYSE President, Acquires CoinDesk | Blockster

In a significant development for the crypto industry, Bullish, the crypto exchange led by former New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley, has acquired the renowned crypto-focused media company CoinDesk. The purchase involves Bullish obtaining 100% of CoinDesk in an undisclosed all-cash deal. Notably, CoinDesk's parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), had acquired the media company in 2016 for $500,000.

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This acquisition follows CoinDesk's impactful reporting on Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire, which had substantial repercussions, contributing to financial challenges within its parent company. Bullish has confirmed that CoinDesk's existing management team, led by CEO Kevin Worth, will remain intact, and the media outlet will operate as an independent subsidiary within Bullish.

To uphold journalistic independence, CoinDesk is instituting an editorial committee, and Matt Murray, former Editor in Chief of The Wall Street Journal, will serve as its chair. Bullish, backed by investors like Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Louis Bacon, aims to leverage CoinDesk's strengths during what it believes is a rebound in the digital assets industry.

Bullish's CEO, Tom Farley, expressed a willingness to invest significantly in CoinDesk's growth. For instance, Bullish plans to assist CoinDesk in expanding its conference business to Asia, leveraging its strong presence in Hong Kong and Singapore. Notably, Bullish is actively involved in the auction for the remnants of FTX, a collapsed crypto exchange, with plans to potentially restart it after emerging from bankruptcy next year.

The crypto media giant, CoinDesk, operates across three main lines of business, including media, events, and indexes, generating $50 million in revenue last year. The acquisition reflects Bullish's strategic interest in diverse assets within the cryptocurrency space.

Interestingly, an earlier attempt to purchase CoinDesk fell through, with a syndicate of investors led by Matthew Roszak of Tally Capital and Peter Vessenes of Capital6 reportedly in the final stages of sealing an approximate $125 million deal, as reported by the Journal in July.

In November 2022, CoinDesk published an article revealing leaked financials from FTX founder Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research. The report triggered concerns about financial ties between Alameda and FTX, leading to a rush of customer withdrawals and FTX's subsequent plunge into bankruptcy.

The fallout from FTX's collapse impacted CoinDesk's parent company, DCG, leading to the bankruptcy filing of its lending subsidiary, Genesis Global Capital, along with the closure of its institutional-trading platform TradeBlock and wealth-management unit HQ. In response, CoinDesk sought strategic options, including hiring investment bankers at Lazard in January and laying off 16% of its internal staff in August.

The acquisition of CoinDesk by Bullish marks a notable shift in the dynamics of the crypto media landscape, underlining the evolving nature and growing significance of blockchain technology and digital assets. As CoinDesk embarks on this new chapter within the Bullish ecosystem, the broader implications for the cryptocurrency and blockchain media sector await further exploration.