- Justin Sun’s team reportedly pushed Bullish to remove a CoinDesk article on his $6.2m banana stunt, sparking editorial tension.
- The article, exploring art and SEC issues, was removed after complaints, raising questions about crypto media’s editorial independence.
- CoinDesk staff discontent grows as article removal fuels debates on corporate influence and media credibility in the crypto industry.
The team of Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, pushed Bullish, the parent company of CoinDesk, to delete an article that covered Sun’s act of consuming Maurizio Cattelan’s $6.2m banana artwork. The article “I Watched Justin Sun Eat the World’s Most Expensive Banana. I Don’t Get It,” came out in late November and, aside from praising the art aspect of the event, also touched upon Justin Sun’s legal troubles with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Justin Sun’s Complaint Sparks Action
As reported by Fortune, Justin Sun’s representatives themselves complained about the tone of the article to Bullish, which is a crypto exchange that acquired CoinDesk back in November 2023 for $75 million. Since the article is no longer available on CoinDesk’s website, CWJ research found that the article was still available on Yahoo News until December 2 when it was last updated.
The removal of the article caused discord at CoinDesk, with editorial employees complaining during a recent team meeting. Some of the employees proposed the idea of reposting the article with an editor’s note, but the article has not been reposted up to now.
Further escalation occurred when Matt Murray, Chair of CoinDesk’s Editorial Committee, resigned on 16th December. Murray, who used to serve as the editor-in-chief of *The Wall Street Journal*, has not given a public reason for his resignation that may have create more rumors about conflict of interest.
This raises questions about media ownership within the cryptocurrency space, and how CoinDesk will manage its partnership with Bullish. Critics have said that the acquisition has compromised the editorial independence of crypto journalism, or, at the very least, cast doubt on it.
Crypto Media Credibility
The removal of the article by CoinDesk has led to further conversations regarding the role of gatekeepers in the_report’s Many see this as a blatant conflict of interest within those media outlets that are directly connected to the cryptocurrency market.
While the discussion goes on, the erasure of the article became bigger than an interesting case of art and cryptocurrency – it’s about the struggle for the media credibility. The outcome of this matter will probably define attitudes towards CoinDesk’s editorial content and the company’s position in the crypto sector.
