Bullish buys CoinDesk from DCG

CoinDesk finally found a buyer, though the terms of the deal were not disclosed

article-image

T. Schneider/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Bullish, the crypto exchange, announced that it acquired CoinDesk from the Digital Currency Group on Monday.

The terms of the acquisition were not made public. The Wall Street Journal reported that the exchange bought the media company in an all-cash deal.

Bullish announced that the current management team — led by CEO Kevin Worth — would stay in place. An independent Editorial Committee, helmed by former Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Matt Murray, would be created to “ensure journalistic independence.”

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. We also want to express our unwavering support for CoinDesk’s commitment to journalistic independence,” Bullish CEO Tom Farley said in a press release. Farley, prior to heading into crypto, was the president of the New York Stock Exchange.

Bullish, a subsidiary of Block.one, launched back in 2021. Block.one raised roughly $4 billion in a 2018 initial coin offering — one of the biggest ICOs of all time — and built EOS, an open-source blockchain.

Read more: EOS Network participants may take action against Block.One following ‘failed promises’

Block.one, the largest bitcoin holder with 164,000 bitcoin (BTC), according to BitcoinTreasuries.net, turned EOS over to community stakeholders following its initial launch and used its bitcoin stash to develop Bullish, which runs on a private version of the software.

Aside from the CoinDesk acquisition, Bullish is also pursuing a perpetual futures trading launch on its exchange, according to the Monday press release. 

DCG had been looking to sell CoinDesk since the beginning of this year, following confirmation from Worth. However, due to the bankruptcy of the Genesis lending arm — also a DCG subsidiary — it was evident that DCG would look to sell the media publication.

CoinMarketCap initially expressed interest. However, the acquisition was put on hold back in March.

CoinDesk was acquired by DCG back in 2016 for roughly $500,000.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

zerebro.png

Research

Here we tackle the new crypto product ideas we expect agents to enable, reason about the value capture potential of different AI agent platform plays, and survey the current landscape of leading AI agent platform pureplays available to crypto investors today.

article-image

Despite the decades-long lead, there are spooky similarities between ETH and Intel stock

article-image

Some are calling for Solana to pump the brakes until validators are able to share the extra fees with stakers

article-image

Pantera junior partner Mason Nystrom details why projects need to raise capital

article-image

It’ll take time to “disentangle all these strands,” Peirce noted — ongoing litigation included

article-image

The victory lap the crypto industry has run since election night is bumping into some hurdles

article-image

The crypto custody firm’s goal was to “identify price points at which traders might consider the market to be overextended”