CoinDesk hires investment banker to explore options

CoinDesk Inc., a cryptocurrency-focused media company, has retained investment bankers at Lazard Ltd. to help it explore options including a partial or full sale, reports Wall Street Journal reporters Lauren Thomas and Vicky Ge Huang.

Thomas and Huang report, “CoinDesk’s parent company, Digital Currency Group Inc., or DCG,   has received multiple unsolicited offers north of $200 million in the past few months, according to people familiar with the matter. DCG acquired the media company in 2016 for $500,000, the people said. CoinDesk generated $50 million in revenue last year from online advertising as well as its index and events business, they said.

“The $13.5 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, offered by CoinDesk sister company Grayscale Investments, tracks the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.

“The last year was marked by a series of crypto bankruptcies as the Federal Reserve boosted interest rates, deflating the most speculative investments.

“Crypto exchange FTX’s problems tumbled into the open on Nov. 2, when CoinDesk published a report questioning the financial health of both FTX and its sister trading firm, Alameda. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection just days later, and Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO.”

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