Asia Fund Picks Up Majority Stake in The Block, Buys Out Shares Tied to Sam Bankman-Fried Loan

Crypto news and data provider The Block today said Singapore-based fund Foresight Ventures had completed an acquisition of the majority of its shares, CEO Larry Cermak said in an X post.

The raise was completed at a $70 million valuation and the company plans to “build out new exciting products” and expand into Asia and the Middle East regions, Cermak said.

“Excited to see the company move forward on a stronger ground as we continue to expand our news, research and data offerings,” The Block’s editor in chief Tim Copeland told CoinDesk.

Most of the capital was used to buy out former CEO Mike McCaffrey’s stake, who resigned in December 2022 after information of the site being secretly funded since 2020 by Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research came to light.

Bankman-Fried has since been found guilty of seven charges of fraud.

The Block laid off 27 staff, equating to around a third of its total workforce, in March in a leadership shake up that saw Larry Cermak, the website’s head of research, become CEO.

UPDATE (November 13, 2023, 13:35 UTC): Adds sentence on The Block’s layoffs in March.

UPDATE (November 13, 2023, 13:41 UTC): Adds comment from Tim Copeland.