Crypto news website CoinDesk has tapped advisors from Lazard, a leading financial advisory and asset management firm, to explore the full or partial sale of its business. The move has been fueled by a lack of liquidity following the collapse of FTX to CoinDesk’s sister company, Genesis.
CoinDesk, which is wholly owned by crypto-focused venture capital firm Digital Currency Group, aims to sell a portion or all of its business to remove it from the crypto conglomerate, suggesting that Barry Silbert’s crypto empire may be in trouble. May fall in
according to thursday report good By Reuters, CoinDesk CEO Kevin Worth has confirmed the news, claiming that there has been some interest in the crypto outlet. He reportedly said:
“My goal in hiring Lazard is to explore various options for attracting growth capital to the CoinDesk business, which could include a partial or full sale.”
Launched in 2013, CoinDesk has grown to become a leading source of news within the crypto industry. The publication first broke the story about a potential balance sheet impropriety at Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, who is still Blamed by the SBF for their role in the FTX collapse, announced its decision to sell all of its FTT holdings, citing a CoinDesk report. The move then followed a downward spiral in crypto exchange FTX, which filed for bankruptcy in November.
Subsequently, Bankman-Fried was arrested after US prosecutors in the Bahamas formally filed criminal charges against him in December last year. He was eventually extradited to the US where he was later released from prison. posting a $250m bond in a New York court.
News website Semaphore on 29 November Reported that CoinDesk has shown some interest in the acquisition. According to the report, several parties have expressed interest in acquiring CoinDesk, with one of the potential buyers offering up to $300 million.
CoinDesk reportedly has an annual revenue of $50 million. Furthermore, the outlet is the organizer of the Consensus conference which is projected to grow in relevance as it may fill the gap created by the collapse of FTX.
DCG is a crypto conglomerate that lists over 160 companies in its portfolio on its website, of which it has acquired 28. CoinDesk, Grayscale and Genesis are three of the largest companies listed in its portfolio.
In the wake of the collapse of FTX, Genesis announces that it is suspend redemption and new loan originations. In a statement on Twitter, the company said that “unusual withdrawal requests” have exceeded its “current liquidity”.
According to the latest disclosures, Genesis owes up to $3 billion to customers, including $900 million to Gemini customers and more than $301 million to users of Dutch crypto exchange Bitvavo.
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