Binance Sets CoinDesk Acquisition Bid Aside; ‘Not a Fit,’ Says CZ

• Binance Capital Management would no longer buy CoinDesk.
• Binance CEO said CoinDesk was ‘not a fit’ in its geographic coverage.
• CoinDesk CEO said the sale was an ongoing process with no timeline.

On Tuesday, Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, stated that Binance Capital Management (BCM), through its sister firm, CoinMarketCap, would no longer be acquiring the crypto publishing firm, CoinDesk.

Zhao made the revelation on Twitter while correcting a report that claimed the CoinMarketCap acquisition bid for CoinDesk was on hold. “Not on hold, [rather], not buying,” the Binance CEO tweeted, adding that CoinDesk may be a good business, but the publishing firm was ‘not a fit’ in Binance’s geographic coverage.

Previously, a Binance representative said the exchange was interested in acquiring media properties but was wary that such media’s neutrality might become tainted due to the exchange’s ownership.

CoinDesk, a core component of the Digital Currency Group (DCG) empire, went on sale following the parent company’s travails with the bankrupt Genesis trading and lending firm. A report estimated CoinDesk’s market value to be as high as $300 million. However, sources with the acquisition bid hinted that the potential deal was closer to $75 million.

Nonetheless, CoinDesk CEO Kevin Worth noted that no decisions had been made about the sale of the publishing firm. “This is an ongoing process, and there is no set timeline,” the CEO said in an interview.

In April 2020, Binance Capital Management acquired CoinMarketCap, the most popular crypto data aggregation website with nearly 100 million visitors monthly. According to the official disclosure terms, Binance and CoinMarketCap are entirely independent of one another. “No Binance employee, including the CEO, has control over CoinMarketCap’s ranking algorithms or listing processes,” the statement read.