Good day everyone,
I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at Justin Sun pressured CoinDesk to take down an article regarding him eating a $6.2 million banana, which led to the editor resigning.
CoinDesk Editor Resigns Over Justin Sun Report
Back towards the end of November one of the leading crypto trade publication's, CoinDesk, published an article about blockchain billionaire Justin Sun. Within it look at his latest stunt as Sun ate a banana he had just purchased for $6.2 million at Sotheby’s from the modern artist Maurizio Cattelan. The article was published with the title “I Watched Justin Sun Eat the World’s Most Expensive Banana. I Don’t Get It.”
Within the article it discussed the art world and the banana-eating stunt, as well as background on Sun. As part of the background on Sun it looked at his run-in with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which had charged him with fraud. Both Sun and his blockchain Tron have moved to dismiss the lawsuit, and CoinDesk reported that Sun’s lawyers have threatened media outlets with legal action for reporting on the blockchain he founded, Tron, for illicit finance.
Sun did not stop there as his team complained about the tone of the above mentioned piece. Given that Tron is a major sponsor of CoinDesk’s flagship Consensus conference series it was a delicate situation, and CoinDesk’s owners, the crypto exchange Bullish, demanded editorial staff remove it from the publication’s website. This controversy led to the resignation of the editorial chair as concerns have skyrocketed over editorial independence.
Apparently a newsroom meeting was held last week where Bullish CEO Tom Farley and CoinDesk CEO Sara Stratoberdha attended. During this meeting they asked for the article to be restored with an editor’s note. Bullish purchased the publication last year for $75 million and this latest move has increased the tension between CoinDesk and its new owner. The concerns are in relation to Bullish’s assurances that CoinDesk would operate as an independent subsidiary. On the 16th of December, Matt Murray, chair of CoinDesk’s editorial committee, resigned due to staff unease.
CoinDesk was founded in 2013 and is an award-winning outlet whose reporting is largely credited for exposing the massive fraud at FTX. Last year its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), sought to firm up its balance sheet. While the search for a potential buyer was prolonged, eventually DCG sold to Bullish. Bullish is a crypto exchange similar to Coinbase and Binance, although it is far behind in terms of market share. Former NYSE president Tom Farley leads the exchange, and they have ambitious plans which include a potential IPO next year.
When Bullish purchase CoinDesk they pledged to retain the independence of the publication, and appointed former editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal Matt Murray to serve as chair of an editorial committee. Given what has happened, it highlights the increasing influence of Sun. The billionaire purchased $30 million of tokens from President-elect Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial in November before joining the team as an advisor.
The stunt by Justin Sun to eat the banana was met with mixed reactions at the time, and his PR team framed the act as an homage to contemporary art. CoinDesk had dismissed this as nothing more than a publicity stunt, and this clearly irked the billionaire. Sun is known for extravagant moves such as paying $4.57 million to dine with Warren Buffet. The piece is gone from CoinDesk, however it is still available on Yahoo News through a syndication agreement.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
Referral Links and Follow Me:
