The Block (website)
| Headquarters | New York, NY, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner | Foresight Ventures |
| Founder(s) | Mike Dudas, Jake McGraw |
| Editor | Tim Copeland |
| CEO | Larry Cermak |
| Industry | Digital currency |
| URL | www |
| Launched | March 2018 |
The Block is an American online publication specializing in cryptocurrencies. It is based in New York.
History
[edit]The Block was founded by Mike Dudas at the beginning of 2018.[1] It raised $4 million from venture capital firms including Greycroft, Pantera Capital, BlockTower Capital and Bloomberg Beta.[2]
In 2020, Mike Dudas stepped down and Michael McCaffrey became CEO, having taken an undisclosed loan of $12 million from Alameda Research to buy out other investors and all former employees.[3]
Over the next two years, McCaffrey took two more loans from Alameda Research. One for $15 million to finance the ongoing operations of The Block and another for $16 million to purchase personal real estate in the Bahamas.[4]
After Alameda Research went bankrupt and McCaffrey's undisclosed loans totaling $43 million were revealed in December 2022, McCaffrey resigned and Bobby Moran, then CRO of The Block, became Interim CEO in November 2022.[5] Moran said that no employee, apart from McCaffrey, knew about the loans from Alameda Research.[3]
In March 2023, Larry Cermak,[6] prior 6' 10" starting center,[7] became CEO and the company laid off a third of its staff.[8]
In November 2023, The Block sold more than an 80% stake to Singapore-based Foresight Ventures in a $56 million deal at a $70 million valuation.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Wilhelm, Jacquelyn Melinek and Alex (2022-12-09). "The Block founder says he's exploring ways to get the publication into 'trustworthy' hands". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
- ^ "Crypto media company The Block buys out its investors".
- ^ a b "Exclusive: SBF secretly funded crypto news site".
- ^ Saul, Derek. "Bankman-Fried Secretly Funneled Millions To Crypto Outlet The Block". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
- ^ Clark, Mitchell (2022-12-09). "Sam Bankman-Fried secretly handed $27 million to a major crypto news site and its CEO". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
- ^ https://twitter.com/lawmaster[self-published source]
- ^ "Larry Cermak - 2014-15 - Men's Basketball".
- ^ "The Block lays off a third of staffers amid leadership shakeup".
- ^ "The Block sold to Foresight Ventures in deal worth $70mn".