A look into Bullish, the crypto exchange buying CoinDesk

—, ,
—by Protos Staff

Bullish, the cryptocurrency exchange funded by Block One, has reportedly purchased CoinDesk in an all-cash deal with undisclosed terms.

This comes after a previously reported deal with Matthew Roszak and Peter Vessenes appears to have fallen apart.

CoinDesk’s current parent company, Digital Currency Group, has been facing a series of problems, including civil lawsuits that allege fraud. 

What is Bullish?

Bullish is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2021 with an investment from Block One. Block One was the firm that conducted a purported $4 billion dollar ICO for the EOS token.

Block One ended up paying a $24 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission for selling unregistered securities.

Bullish initially intended to go public using a Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation (SPAC) at a valuation of $9 billion, which included approximately $6 billion in assets that it received from Block One. This was eventually called off following a failed settlement between Block One and EOS investors. 

Block.one’s peculiar $10B exchange Bullish opens trade for crypto fat cats

Read more: Who is CoinDesk’s likely buyer Matthew Roszak?

One of Bullish’s key distinguishing features was that “Bullish cross-hashes to the EOS Public Blockchain to facilitate externally verifiable state integrity.” Protos was unable to find any information on Bullish’s website or support documents about how one would go about using information on the EOS blockchain to externally verify state integrity and has reached out to Bullish to see if they can provide additional information on how this process works. 

Tom Farley, the CEO of Bullish and former president of the New York Stock Exchange, stated that the firm intends to operate CoinDesk as an “independent subsidiary,” maintain the current management team, and will form a new editorial committee led by former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Matt Murray.

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.