- CoinDesk has hired bankers to explore a potential sale, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- The crypto publication broke the story that triggered FTX's solvency crisis in November.
- But its owners Digital Currency Group have been caught up in the liquidity crunch plaguing the crypto sector.
CoinDesk is exploring a potential sale after its owner Digital Currency Group was rocked by the turmoil in crypto markets in the wake of crypto exchange FTX's implosion, according to media reports.
The crypto-focused news site has hired $274 billion asset manager Lazard to advise it on a sale that would carve it out from CEO Barry Silbert's under-fire DCG, the Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday.
Crypto conglomerate DCG is scrambling to resolve financial troubles caused by a liquidity crisis. It got caught up in the fallout from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX and of defunct cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
Its lending arm Genesis has cut 30% of its staff and is now reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy this week as it struggles to pay back a $3 billion debt.
On November 2, CoinDesk was the first publication to report that FTX's sister trading firm Alameda Research held significant amounts of FTX's own native FTT token.
Rival exchange Binance responded by selling all its FTT holdings, triggering a solvency crisis that led to FTX filing for bankruptcy just nine days later.
US prosecutors alleged in December that FTX's now-disgraced founder Bankman-Fried knowingly funneled trading customers' money onto Alameda's balance sheet. That led to his arrest in the Bahamas and extradition to the US to face eight counts of fraud.
As well as CoinDesk and Genesis, DCG owns the crypto mining firm Foundry Digital, the asset manager Grayscale Investments, and the investing app Luno.
CoinDesk and DCG didn't immediately respond to Insider requests for comment.
Read more: Crypto lender Genesis is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as this week