Coindesk Acquisition by Former NYSE President Tom Farley Finalized

Cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, under the leadership of former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) President Tom Farley, has completed the much anticipated CoinDesk acquisition

CoinDesk Acquisition: Bullish Takes 100% Stake

According to a Wall Street Journal report released on Monday, Bullish acquired 100% of CoinDesk stock from its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The transaction was completely an all-cash deal although the exact value of the acquisition was not disclosed. 

Moving forward, the cryptocurrency media site will run as an independent entity even though it is now owned by Bullish. The report highlighted that the current management team of CoinDesk will remain unchanged but a new editorial committee will be created and will be spearheaded by former Wall Street Journal Editor-in-chief Matt Murray.

CoinDesk has been in some trouble since last year when FTX ran into bankruptcy and many other crypto exchanges suffered a contagion. Genesis, one of DCG’s subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy and CoinDesk began to show signs of distress at the time. The crypto media house considered a potential sale with an asking price of $200 million. In no distant time, CoinDesk hired an advisor from Lazard Group.

Per a statement from CoinDesk’s CEO Kevin Worth at the time, he noted that in the past months, the crypto media firm “received numerous inbound indications of interest” in the firm. Speaking about its connection with Lazard, Worth added that the bankers will help CoinDesk “explore various options to attract growth capital to the CoinDesk business, which may include a partial or full sale,” a venture that has now materialized.

Cardano Founder’s Interest in CoinDesk Yielded no Deal

Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson had earlier indicated interest in the CoinDesk acquisition deal. 

Expressing his visions for the firm at the time, Hoskinson planned to overhaul it into a mix of a news and community site. At the same time, he felt that the firm was a bit overpriced at $200 million although some other entities thought it to be a reasonable deal considering readership, crypto events, and impact on the industry. The overpriced claim might be the reason why the acquisition deal on his end did not pull through.

It is worth noting that CoinDesk was one of the first media outlets that announced Sam Bankman-Fried’s balance sheet problems at Alameda Research. The report played a pivotal role in exposing some of the illicit activities between FTX and its sister trading firm, Alameda Research.