The Block, a cryptocurrency and blockchain news website, has reportedly laid off about 33% of its staff, including interim CEO Bobby Moran, to stabilize the platform after receiving loans from Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX and Alameda Research founder. Larry Cermak, vice president of research, has been appointed as the new CEO after Bobby Moran.
The change in leadership follows reports that former CEO Mike McCaffrey financed the platform through loans from Alameda Research. In December 2022, Moran disclosed that McCaffrey had used two loans totaling $27 million from Alameda in 2021 to restructure the crypto news site. McCaffrey’s failure to disclose the loans led to his resignation as CEO. The Block’s editor-at-large Frank Chaparro has lauded Cermak’s advancement to CEO, saying the site was “returning to our crypto native roots.”
