Genesis came first, then Coindesk. Barry Silbert’s empire seems to be in peril; reportedly, it is thinking about selling some of its subsidiaries to deal with cash flow problems.
On January 18, 2023, Kevin Worth, the CEO of CoinDesk, a division of Digital Currency Group that publishes news on cryptocurrencies, announced that the company has hired investment bankers from Lazard LTD to assist them in exploring alternatives for a partial or full sale of the business.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Worth discussed how prospective investors were enthusiastic about owning the online website:
“Over the last few months, we have received numerous inbound indications of interest in CoinDesk,”
The “Consensus” summit, one of the largest crypto events in the United States, is organized by Coindesk, which boasts over 5 million monthly visitors on its website (Similarweb claims over 10 million visitors). Coindesk has also expanded to other products, such as a newsletter and a YouTube channel.
CoinDesk seems to be a success, but the parent company’s liquidity problems aren’t caused by a media site that isn’t performing well; rather, they are primarily the result of the FTX contagion and a dispute with the Winklevoss twins, who founded the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange after DCG-owned crypto lender Genesis stopped allowing withdrawals and messed with Gemini’s “Earn” program.
The Winklevii have openly demanded DCG CEO Barry Silbert’s resignation and charged the business with ignoring their attempts to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. Additionally, Genesis and DCG were both recently sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly marketing unregistered securities.
After failing to raise money, Genesis may be ready to declare bankruptcy this week. The cryptocurrency fund was left with a liquidity shortfall of more than $175 million as a result of FTX’s demise, which prevented it from restarting customer withdrawals.
CoinDesk or Genesis, as well as other prominent DCG-owned cryptocurrency companies like Foundry, Grayscale Investments, and Luno, may be sold in the future. While this could help with some or all of DCG’s financial problems, it could also have a large effect on the cryptocurrency market.
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