Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson provides an update on the acquisition of Coindesk and CNN media outlet 

• During the DCG’s liquidity issue and the bankruptcy of its subsidiary Genesis Capital, Hoskinson showed interest in acquiring news outlet CoinDesk.

• However, Hoskinson thinks the $200 million asking price by CoinDesk is a bit overpriced.

Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson sparked a discussion after replying to a tweet that disclosed his intention to buy a news outlet. Denver, Colorado-based entrepreneur Ross Calvin hinted that Hoskinson wants to buy news outlet CNN. Interestingly, Hoskinson replied that he cannot confirm or deny the rumor. CNN has been in the news for a change of ownership since 2018. Currently, the news outlet is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. In a recent ask-me-anything (AMA) session on YouTube, Hoskinson put the rumors to bed. According to him, he has no intention to acquire traditional broadcast media.

Cardano founder comments on the CoinDesk deal

During the DCG’s liquidity issue and the bankruptcy of its subsidiary Genesis Capital, Hoskinson showed interest in acquiring news outlet CoinDesk. It is reported that CoinDesk hired financial advisors to explore options which include the partial or full sale of the outlet. However, Hoskinson thinks the $200 million asking price by CoinDesk is a bit overpriced. The idea was to change the outlet into a mix of community sites and news outlets. 

CoinDesk was founded by entrepreneur Shakil Khan. In 2016, it was acquired by the Digital Currency Group for $500,000. 

During the ask-me-anything show, the Cardano founder disclosed that he has signed a non-disclosure agreement prohibiting him from giving many details about the current position of the negotiation. Even so, he disclosed that the deal is unlikely to take place.

I don’t think I’m going to acquire it, but we’ll see where that process goes.

DCG and its bankrupt subsidiary Genesis reached an in-principle agreement on terms of a restructuring plan with a group of its main creditors. This will ensure that some of the issues that sent the company, Genesis into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection are solved. According to the terms sheet, the outstanding loan when DCG borrowed $500 million in cash and about $100 million worth of bitcoin (BTC) from Genesis would be refinanced. This includes “an equitization of the infamous 10-year promissory note that DCG gave Genesis in return for failed hedge fund 3AC claims.”

On November 16, 2022, Genesis halted withdrawal following the collapse of the FTX empire. On Jan. 23, Genesis’ lawyers told U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York that they foresaw reaching an agreement with creditors.

Hoskinson wants to restore media integrity

The interest of Hoskinson in acquiring the news outlet has to do with restoring integrity in the media space. Hoskinson recounted how he was poorly treated by the media in the past. According to him, some media have an agenda to push. Also, he suggested turning various news outlets into Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) in a bid to make people interact with them and view each separate story as a living object.   

Hoskinson has also shown huge effort in implementing more updates on the Cardano network. This includes the proposed CIP 1694 and the MBO which is expected to strengthen the Cardano community. The CIP 1694 would bring Cardano to the Voltaire Era.