CoinDesk May Finalise Partial Sale Worth $125 Million Amidst DCG Challenges

CoinDesk is on the verge of completing a partial sale valued at a substantial $125 million, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on July 20.

Headed by Peter Vessenes of Capital6 and Matthew Roszak of Tally Capital, an investor group is purportedly involved in the sale, focusing on investments in cryptocurrency and blockchain startups.

Under the proposed deal, CoinDesk's parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), will retain a stake in the site's media, events, data, and index business, with the management structure expected to remain unchanged.

Notably, earlier this year in January 2023, The Wall Street Journal disclosed that CoinDesk had engaged the financial services firm Lazard to explore the possibility of either a partial or total sale.

This exploration followed unsolicited offers exceeding $200 million for CoinDesk, although the specific interested parties remain largely undisclosed.

Binance and its subsidiary CoinMarketCap were considering acquiring CoinDesk.

However, the deal was subsequently described as "on hold," and Binance's CEO, Changpeng Zhao, confirmed that his firm would not pursue the acquisition on March 14.

DCG acquired CoinDesk back in 2016 for an approximate sum of $500,000.

Amidst these developments, CoinDesk's financial performance remains robust, generating a substantial $50 million in revenue throughout 2022 from its online advertising, index services, and events business.

However, the pending deal is unfolding in the context of broader challenges within DCG. In January, the lending arm of DCG's subsidiary, Genesis Global Capital, filed for bankruptcy.

Additionally, Genesis has faced legal action from Gemini, alleging the concealment of insolvency amidst the collapse of borrower Three Arrows Capital.

This dispute has led to customer access issues concerning their funds, given the companies' involvement in the now-defunct interest-bearing Earn service.

Further exacerbating the situation, Digital Currency Group has closed its institutional-trading platform, TradeBlock, and its wealth management unit, HQ Digital, in recent months.