Larry Cermak, vice president of research at The Block, has announced that he will take over the cryptocurrency and blockchain news site from interim CEO Bobby Moran following reports that ex-CEO Mike McCaffrey took a loan from Alameda Research .
In a March 31 tweet, Cermak said he would take over as CEO after about five years at the cryptocurrency news site. Axios also reported that The Block fired roughly 33% of its staff including Moran to stabilize the platform following a controversial loan from former FTX and Alameda Research founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
“We are not immune to the contraction of the cryptocurrency market and the broader economy,” the company reportedly said. “We have grown too fast to capitalize on the cryptocurrency bull market. Now, we must shift our strategy and realign our team, to adapt to the realities of the current market.”
In December 2022, Moran revealed that McCaffrey had used two loans from Alameda totaling $27 million in 2021 to restructure the cryptocurrency news site. McCaffrey's failure to disclose the loan to The Block's leadership team led to his resignation as CEO. The Block's contributing editor Frank Chaparro, who once called McCaffrey a "literal scum" who betrayed the platform's employees, praised Cermak's promotion to CEO, saying the site was "returning to our crypto-native roots." Cermak reportedly said he received no instructions from McCaffrey to report on stories about FTX or Bankman-Fried “in any particular way,” despite the platform’s financial ties. All news articles on the website include a disclaimer with detailed information about SBF loans.
Since FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, numerous news outlets, lawmakers, and organizations have reported financial ties to the defunct cryptocurrency exchange or directly to Bankman-Fried. In February, the company's leadership announced plans to recoup all political donations, and in March reported that a research team had determined approximately $25 million through November 2022.
