Coindesk for sale? Investors Circle Crypto News Publication Amid Genesis Bankruptcy – Bitcoin…
According to various reports, investors are interested in buying Coindesk, a cryptocurrency news publication. On January 18, Wang Feng, founder of China-based news publication Marsbit, announced his intention to buy Coindesk along with other members of the crypto industry. This news follows a report from Semafor in late November 2022 indicating that Coindesk had received redemption solicitations from several investors.
Coindesk’s alleged asking price: $200 million or more as Charles Hoskinson and Marsbit express interest in buying
Investors are reportedly considering buying cryptocurrency news publication Coindesk after a Digital Currency Group (DCG) subsidiary, Genesis Global Capital, filed for bankruptcy protection. Coindesk is an independent news and conferences company wholly owned by DCG.
According to Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Cardano, sources familiar with the matter said that the asking price for the Coindesk media is around $200 million. Hoskinson has expressed interest in buying Coindesk, as noted in a Youtube video titled “Buy Coindesk”.
Hoskinson’s $200 million quote is lower than the estimate given to Semafor in late November 2022 when sources informed the publication of information that investors wanted to buy Coindesk. At that time, Bradley Saacks and Liz Hoffman of Semafor reported that there was a “suggested purchase price of $300 million”. The report adds that people familiar with the matter said the $300 million estimate was “considered too low”.
Semafor’s Bradley Saacks said Coindesk generates most of its revenue from events such as Consensus conferences and advertising. Saacks notes that the “revenue pool of the two is shrinking rapidly.” Besides Charles Hoskinson, Wang Feng, the founder of China-based news publication Marsbit, also announcement intend to purchase the publication. Marsbit is a news publication backed by Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
Wang announced on January 18, 2023 that Marsbit was willing to “arrange a number of well-known funds to jointly acquire and integrate Coindesk,” according to the founder’s tweet. He also said the Consensus conferencing business would be included in the acquisition. Coindesk was founded in 2013 by an entrepreneur Shakil Khanwho is also the co-founder of Prima Materia and an early investor in Bitpay.
Coindesk was acquired by DCG in January 2016, for an estimated $500,000 to $600,000, according to a report by Techcrunch reporter Lucas Matney. Coindesk published a article about the acquisition, noting that they were “excited” to join DCG and mentioning that DCG had been one of the “early investors and supporters” of Coindesk.
What do you think of the interest in buying Coindesk from investors like Charles Hoskinson and Marsbit founder Wang Feng? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comments section below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
