Crypto Exchange Bullish Buys CoinDesk in All-Cash Deal

Bullish, the institutional digital asset exchange managed by former New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley, has purchased crypto-focused media firm CoinDesk from Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group

While financial details of the deal weren’t disclosed, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bullish bought CoinDesk in an all-cash deal.

CoinDesk will continue to be led by Kevin Worth and the existing management team and operate as an independent subsidiary within Bullish.

“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,” said Farley, CEO.

CoinDesk also announced that it has appointed Matt Murray, former Editor-in-Chief of The Wall Street Journal, to serve as chair of its editorial committee.

Aside from news coverage, CoinDesk hosts live blockchain and cryptocurrency events and provides real-time market indexes. Last year, the company earned around $50 million in income from online advertising, as well as from its market indexing service and live event venues.

Bullish, a Block.one subsidiary, debuted in 2021. Block.one raised over $4 billion in an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018 — one of the largest ICOs of all time — and created EOS, an open-source blockchain.

The exchange has executed over $300 billion in total trading volume since inception and ranks among the top three global exchanges by spot trading volume for Bitcoin and Ether, according to the company.