CoinDesk’s New Owner Bullish Replaces CEO in Restructuring

Sara Stratoberdha replaces Kevin Worth, who has led CoinDesk since 2017.

AccessTimeIconFeb 9, 2024 at 12:52 a.m. UTC
Updated Mar 8, 2024 at 9:18 p.m. UTC
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CoinDesk’s longtime CEO Kevin Worth is out amid a major restructuring initiated by the media, events and information company’s new owner, Bullish Group, which operates the Bullish crypto exchange.

In Worth's place, the parent company has appointed Sara Stratoberdha, who previously ran business development for Bullish.

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  • "CoinDesk will remain an independent subsidiary of Bullish and Sara is committed to maintaining CoinDesk's journalistic independence and integrity," a CoinDesk spokesperson said.

    The shakeup, which comes two months after Bullish Group acquired CoinDesk from its embattled former owner Digital Currency Group, affects much of CoinDesk’s leadership.

    Other departures include Chief Operating Officer and President of Media Elinor Hirschhorn, Vice President of Engineering John DeGuenther and Executive Director of Global Strategy Emily Parker.

    Chief Content Officer Michael Casey no longer has a full-time role, but is in discussions with Bullish to stay on board with CoinDesk in some other capacity.

    CoinDesk and Bullish employees were informed of the changes via a memo on Thursday from Bullish CEO Tom Farley, who said the restructuring was designed to shift CoinDesk’s media, indices and events businesses into a flatter organizational structure. Some CoinDesk functions, such as Human Resources, will now report to their equivalents at Bullish. CoinDesk’s tech and product teams will also be integrated with Bullish, said Farley.

    "Kevin and the leadership team oversaw the evolution of CoinDesk into a leading global media company, effected the sale to Bullish, and successfully integrated the two companies. We thank them and wish them well,” Farley said in a statement shared with CoinDesk.

    “Sara and the CoinDesk leadership team are thrilled about the opportunity to invest in and grow CoinDesk’s media, events, and indices.”

    Edited by Marc Hochstein.

    Disclosure

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    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Sam Kessler

    Sam is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols. He reports on decentralized technology, infrastructure and governance. He owns ETH and BTC.

    Danny Nelson

    Danny is CoinDesk's Managing Editor for Data & Tokens. He owns BTC, ETH and SOL.


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