Barry Silbert’s crypto empire continues to spiral as ex-NYSE president buys news site CoinDesk
Barry Silbert, Founder and CEO, Digital Currency Group
David A. Grogan | CNBC
After months on the market, crypto news site CoinDesk has finally been acquired by a business that’s run by the former president of the New York Stock Exchange.
Bullish, a digital asset exchange led by ex-NYSE chief Tom Farley, has purchased CoinDesk from Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group. It’s the latest sign that Silbert’s crypto empire, which had vaulted its founder into the billionaire ranks, continues to fall apart.
CoinDesk will operate as an independent subsidiary of Bullish. Terms of the purchase haven’t been disclosed, but the Wall Street Journal reported that it’s an all-cash deal.
DCG, which first acquired CoinDesk for $500,000 in 2016, reportedly received several unsolicited offers for more than $200 million for the news site earlier this year. CoinDesk first began looking into a possible sale in January, enlisting the help of advisors at Lazard. In July, however, a $125 million purchase agreement from a consortium of investors fell through.
In August, CoinDesk reportedly laid off around 16% of its staff. Farley said Bullish “will immediately inject capital” into the media company to help scale the operation.
Silbert called CoinDesk one of DCG’s “best investments of all time,” in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Monday morning.
Michael Casey, Coindesk’s chief content officer, told CNBC that the Bullish deal came together “very quickly,” and that his side of the newsroom is excited for the new strategic alliance.
Thomas Farley
Anjali Sundaram | CNBC
The existing management team will remain in place, though an extra layer has been added to ensure journalistic independence. Matt Murray, who was previously the editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal, will head a newly formed editorial committee designed to protect the publication’s autonomy.
CoinDesk, which launched in 2013, is best known in parts of the crypto universe for breaking the story about potential balance sheet improprieties at Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research. That reporting sparked a downward spiral at crypto exchange FTX, ending with the collapse of the company and Alameda that month, and the arrest and ultimate conviction of Bankman-Fried.
The contagion from the FTX meltdown hit CoinDesk sister company Genesis, a crypto lender also owned by DCG that filed for bankruptcy protection after suffering crippling losses from the collapses of FTX and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
Genesis is the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission charge alongside crypto exchange Gemini. Last month, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed suit against DCG and Genesis for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $1 billion. Meanwhile, Genesis sued its parent company, DCG, in September in an effort to recover $620 million in unpaid loans.
Silbert has also faced challenges at DCG’s crown jewel, Grayscale Investments, which manages the $32 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, better known by its ticker GBTC.
In February, the Financial Times first reported that DCG was selling its holdings in several Grayscale trusts at a steep discount to shore up funds to pay back its creditors billions of dollars.
Grayscale recently won a legal battle with the SEC over its application to convert GBTC into a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Should the conversion ultimately be approved, however, there are concerns about profitability, in part because the company has committed to cutting fees.
Earlier this month at DC Fintech Week, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said the company has been growing as an independent organization with its own broker-dealer and registered investment advisor.
“My focus and my team’s focus at Grayscale is really on the GBTC uplifting itself,” he said. “We’re not involved in what’s transpiring with DCG, or with Barry, or with any of the other DCG entities themselves.”
While Silbert’s influence fades, Farley’s is on the rise.
Bullish is among a short list of three bidders vying to buy what remains of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler previously told CNBC a revived FTX could work if new leadership does so with a clear understanding of the law.
“If Tom or anybody else wanted to be in this field, I would say, ‘Do it within the law,'” Gensler said earlier this month. “Build the trust of investors in what you’re doing and ensure that you’re doing the proper disclosures — and also that you’re not commingling all these functions, trading against your customers. Or using their crypto assets for your own purposes.”
Global offshore wind targets are still strong enough to triple global capacity by 2030, despite the US’s offshore wind stagnation under Trump. A new analysis from energy think tank Ember and the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) shows that the rest of the world is charging forward, underscoring confidence in offshore wind as a cornerstone of future clean energy systems.
Based on the latest NHTSA report, Tesla’s ‘Robotaxis’ keep crashing in Austin, Texas, despite ‘safety monitors’ preventing an unknown number of crashes.
Under an NHTSA Standing General Order SGO, automakers are required to report crashes involving their autonomous driving (ADS) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) within five days of being notified of them.
For years, Tesla was only reporting ADAS crashes, since, despite the names of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems, they are only considered level 2 driver assistance systems.
Since the launch of the Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, where Tesla moved the supervisor from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat, it has now reported its first few crashes under the ADS reporting.
In the first month of operation in July, Tesla reported three crashes with its ‘Robotaxi’ service in Austin.
This week, NHTSA has updated its crash report and revealed a 4th crash that happened in September:
| Report ID | Incident Date | Incident Time (24:00) | Make | Model | Model Year | Automation System Engaged? | Highest Injury Severity Alleged | Crash With | Roadway Type | Weather |
| 13781-11687 | SEP-2025 | 01:25 | TESLA | Model Y | 2026 | ADS | Property Damage. No Injured Reported | Other Fixed Object | Parking Lot | Partly Cloudy |
As we previously highlighted, when it comes to both ADS and ADAS crash reporting, Tesla abuses the redacting capacity and hides most information about its crashes, unlike most of its competitors.
Therefore, we don’t have much information about this new crash, but it reportedly occurred in a parking lot and involved a Tesla Robotaxi crashing into a “fixed object,” resulting in property damage.
What’s most interesting about this crash is that it comes as Tesla released the first bit of data about its Robotaxi program in Austin.
During its earnings call last week, Tesla confirmed that the Robotaxi fleet has traveled 250,000 miles since its launch in late June.
Therefore, Tesla Robotaxi currently crashes at a rate of about once every 62,500 miles. That’s with a safety monitor with a finger on a kill switch, ready to stop the vehicle at all times.
We have no data on how often Tesla’s safety monitors prevent crashes in its robotaxis.
For comparison, the NHTSA report lists 1,267 crashes involving Waymo vehicles. However, Waymo’s robotaxis have covered over 125 million fully driverless miles since inception. That’s a crash every 98,600 miles and without any onboard safety monitor.
Electrek’s Take
That’s the problem with comparing Tesla and Waymo.
At least we can now clearly see that Waymo’s incident rate is much lower than Tesla’s, but that’s with a safety monitor in Tesla robotaxis that prevents an untold number of crashes.
The actual difference could be 10x higher. We simply don’t know. Tesla has always refused to share any data regarding disengagement or intervention rates.
One thing is clear: Tesla is way behind Waymo in autonomous driving safety.
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The electric hot hatch is more than just a show car, Subaru says it offers capabilities only possible with a battery EV.
Subaru unveils new electric STI hot hatch
It’s been quiet on the STI front since Subaru dropped the gas-powered WRX STI in 2022. However, that may change very soon.
The WRX STI was axed due to stricter emissions regulations in Europe, leading many to believe it would be replaced with an electric version. Subaru even said it was looking into opportunities for a next-gen STI version, including an electrified model, but said it would not be built on the new WRX platform.
Now, we are getting our first look at the future of STI. Subaru unveiled two new STI vehicles at the Japan Mobility Show on Wednesday, one a battery-electric (BEV) model and the other a gas-powered model.
Subaru said the EV variant, dubbed the Performance-E STI concept, “represents the future of the Performance Scene, spearheading Subaru’s new generation.”
The electric hot hatch still features a design that “evokes the brand’s heritage,” but with a bit more flair. Unlike the gas version, the Performance-B STI, the EV debuts a new three-line LED headlight design and sportier silhouette.
According to Subaru, the electric STI is “not just a show car,” it can also be used as a daily driver. The aim was to create a performance car that “would inspire everyday life,” Subaru said, adding that “this packaging is only possible with a battery EV.”
The electric hot hatch is equipped with a cylindrical battery, which offers a lower center of gravity and opens up interior space.
Subaru said the setup results in a 15% lower center of gravity than on its previous vehicles. By optimizing downforce and air resistance, the company claims it will outperform the current Subaru Global Platform.
The electric hot hatch also features a new “next-generation suspension” that lowers the hood height by more than 5% while improving control and responsiveness.
Subaru didn’t reveal any other specifics, but said that it will incorporate “innovative technologies” to offer an intuitive, exhilarating driving experience.
Will we see the electric hot hatch actually come to life? Subaru didn’t confirm it was headed for production, but said it represents the future and spearheads a new generation. When and if we will see an electric Subaru STI remains up in the air for now.
Subaru isn’t the only one jumping into the electric hot hatch craze. Honda revealed the Super-ONE at the Japan Mobility Show today, a compact EV that’s packed with fun features.
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