Crypto News Site The Block Bought by Foresight Ventures in $70M Deal After Sam Bankman-Fried Link Exposed

Crypto news and data provider The Block said Singapore-based Foresight Ventures had completed an acquisition of the majority of its shares.

The purchase was completed at a $70 million valuation, and the company plans to “build out new exciting products” and expand into Asia and the Middle East, CEO Larry Cermak said in an X post on Monday.

"Excited to see the company move forward on a stronger ground as we continue to expand our news, research and data offerings," Editor in Chief Tim Copeland told CoinDesk.

Most of the capital was used to buy out former CEO Mike McCaffrey's stake. McCaffrey resigned in December, 2022 after informing The Block's editorial team that the website had secretly been funded since 2020 by Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried has since been found guilty of seven charges of fraud.

The Block laid off 27 staff, about a third of its workforce, in March in a leadership shake-up that saw Cermak, the website's head of research, become CEO.

UPDATE (Nov. 13, 13:35 UTC): Adds sentence on The Block's layoffs in March.

UPDATE (Nov. 13, 13:41 UTC): Adds comment from Tim Copeland.

UPDATE (Nov. 13, 15:51 UTC): Amends fourth paragraph to demonstrate a timeline of McCaffery's resignation; rewrites headline.

Edited by Oliver Knight.

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Oliver Knight

Oliver Knight is a CoinDesk reporter based between London and Lisbon. He does not own any crypto.

Follow @OKnightCrypto on Twitter

Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team, focusing on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across all major and minor blockchains.

Follow @shauryamalwa on Twitter

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