Binance Capital is going to buy CoinDesk through CoinMarketCap

CoinMarketCap, on behalf of Binance Capital, contacted the administration of the news site CoinDesk to discuss options for a possible acquisition, Blockworks sources say.

CoinMarketСap has been appointed by Binance parent company to act as an authorized person to enter into a media acquisition agreement.

SCOOP: CoinMarketCap has been considering an acquisition of CoinDesk.@JonRiceCrypto reports.https://t.co/5enfni8iu8

— Blockworks (@Blockworks_) March 13, 2023

A source told Blockworks that Binance Capital was actively negotiating to acquire CoinDesk throughout February, but initial discussions were interrupted due to fears that the team of reporters would leave the publication en masse if Binance did buy them out. Therefore, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange moved to an alternative option to complete a possible deal.

For his part, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed on Twitter that the cryptocurrency exchange is not planning a direct acquisition of CoinDesk due to what he said is a geographical mismatch.

Not “on hold”. Not buying.

It may be a good business. But not a fit in our geographic coverage. 🙏

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) March 14, 2023

Binance has owned the CoinMarketCap crypto statistics site since 2020, but formally seeks to demonstrate to the crypto community that CoinMarketCap operates as an independent and independent legal entity, and there is no direct connection between them and the exchange.

Digital Currency Group (DCG), the owner of the news portal, values ​​its CoinDesk at between $200 million and $300 million, but in fact, according to Blockworks, DCG’s ambitions could be much lower, at $75 million. In 2016, DCG bought the ownership of the news site CoinDesk for only $500,000.

According to The Wall Street Journal, CoinDesk management has entered into an agreement for the provision of consulting services with Lazard specialists. The company specializes in mergers, sales, restructuring and business strategy.