CoinDesk’s Potential Sale Sparks Speculation

Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of CoinDesk, a popular cryptocurrency-focused news site, is reportedly exploring options for a partial or complete sale of the company.

This news comes amid reports of liquidity issues for DCG, which is owned by Barry Silbert.

CoinDesk CEO, Kevin Worth, announced that the company has hired investment bankers from Lazard Ltd to help explore the potential sale.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Worth stated that the company has received “numerous inbound indications of interest” in CoinDesk.

However, it is unclear if the company had previously considered a sale or if this is a new development.

CoinDesk, which receives over 5 million visitors per month, is a well-established brand in the crypto community, known for its popular “Consensus” summit, a newsletter and YouTube channel.

The reasons for DCG’s liquidity issues, however, are not related to CoinDesk’s performance. Instead, they are attributed to a number of factors including the recent collapse of FTX and a legal battle with the Winklevoss twins, founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange.

In addition to the issues with FTX, Genesis, a DCG-owned crypto lender, halted withdrawals, causing problems for Gemini’s “Earn” program.

The Winklevoss twins have publicly called for the resignation of DCG CEO Barry Silbert and have accused the company of not responding to their attempts to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also recently sued both DCG and Genesis for allegedly selling unregistered securities.

It is worth noting that the crypto lender Genesis is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy this week after failing to raise cash, as the crypto fund was left with a financial gap of more than $175 million in the wake of FTX’s collapse, which prevented it from resuming customer withdrawals.