How would the sale of CoinDesk affect crypto media? [75]

Crypto pub CoinDesk may be looking for a buyer as its parent company DCG is seeking cash

Good afternoon, friends!

It’s almost the end of January and we’ve learned that CoinDesk, an often decent source of commentary and crypto news has been looking at potential buyers and retained Lazard Ltd., an advisory group of investment bankers that would help it explore options of a full or partial sale.

According to the news out of the Wall Street Journal, CoinDesk has gotten offers well above $200 million.

The question is how would this potentially affect the current landscape for crypto reporting if CoinDesk does get sold.

Currently, CoinDesk is owned by Digital Currency Group, which is an interesting position to be in as DCG happens to own a large number of other crypto concerns. Although CoinDesk operates independently of DCG and all of its other subsidiaries, it makes for a strange bedfellows situation every time it reports on anything.

DCG could be looking for cash after its subsidiary, the crypto lender Genesis, filed for bankruptcy earlier last week.

Although the publication is very good about disclosing whenever it reports on anything that might involve DCG or one of its subsidiaries, which does a good job of revealing its potential conflict of interest. And there have been no major scandals that we are aware of.

CoinDesk has also been instrumental in breaking some of the most major stories that have occurred in the crypto industry of late. Including leaked documents that revealed that crypto exchange FTX was cooking the books between itself and its sister company Alameda Research. The revelation ultimately led to the collapse of FTX and the arrest of its founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on fraud charges.

What happens may largely come from what sector CoinDesk is ultimately sold to and what kind of editorial control that entity demands.

As we’ve seen the mainstream media runs the gamut between cynical and critical of the crypto industry to outright incorrect, meaning that oftentimes crypto reporting from major news outlets cannot be trusted. As a result, if CoinDesk gets bought by a bigger network and loses some of its autonomy that might end up reigning in what’s made it shine as more or less independent media.

On our side of the fence, there will still be outlets such as Bitcoin Magazine for feature-length reporting, Decrypt, CoinTelegraph, The Daily Hodl, Cryptonews, Bitcoin News, and other smaller media outlets.

It would be amiss not to mention that The Block had a scandal recently where its now-former CEO Michael McCaffrey stepped down under a pall after it was discovered that he had taken millions in loans from Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research and failed to disclose it. Not a good look for the crypto media industry and certainly an ethical question for a crypto publication reporting on the downfall and bankruptcy of FTX while its CEO had taken loans for the operation of the outlet.

Overall, it’s unlikely that the sale of CoinDesk will have a large effect on crypto media in general but at this point, it’s a wait-and-see who might end up buying the publication either in part or in whole. The real kicker, as I mentioned above, is what kind of autonomy, direction, and resources the team will be given by the new owners afterward.

As usual, look below for the week’s news as bulleted points and the long-form news is available in the paid form of the newsletter. We’ll be back next week for even more so stay tuned! The crypto space always has something strange going on so there will probably be something for us to chat about.

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Blockchain Bulletin

• Genesis files for bankruptcy after getting caught up in FTX blast radius. Crypto lender Genesis filed for bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York after struggling with the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, reported CoinDesk.

• Decentralized exchange 1inch launches hardware wallet. The decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch is building its own hardware wallet to provide customers a way to safely store their own crypto following the self-custody trend reported CoinTelegraph.

Blockchain Behind the Scenes

• Crypto media outlet CoinDesk explores options for sale. The cryptocurrency-focused publication is looking into a potential full or partial sale after tapping the help of investment bankers from the advisory firm Lazard as DCG looks for new sources of money.