I was curious about how cryptocurrency media outlets like CoinDesk operate, but the details I learned recently were quite interesting. This publication is actually a media company that has received industry awards, and it has reported on major stories like the FTX incident. But there’s an important part here: CoinDesk is part of a digital asset platform called Bullish. It’s a global platform centered on providing market infrastructure and information services, and the key point is that the journalists and staff who work here can receive stock-based compensation in Bullish.

When fund managers make investment decisions, they often refer to media articles, so I wondered how trust can be maintained if there’s a conflict-of-interest structure like this. Of course, CoinDesk does state that it adopts principles that guarantee editorial independence and freedom from bias. The idea is that even though employees receive stock-based compensation from Bullish, they still maintain fair reporting. From a fund manager’s perspective as well, if there’s such transparent disclosure, it would probably be easier to make judgments.

Ultimately, I think that for the cryptocurrency industry to mature, it’s important to clearly reveal these kinds of conflict-of-interest relationships. Doesn’t the media building trust by not hiding ownership ties and disclosing them openly itself? At least when investors and fund managers receive information, they can know what the background is.