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CoinDesk was launched on May 1, 2013, by London entrepreneur Shakil Khan, who had already invested in Bitcoin startups, including BitPay. He saw that investors and businesspeople were asking about Bitcoin. At the same time, the available sources were either too technical or scattered across forums. CoinDesk began as a news site focused on Bitcoin and digital currencies.

In September 2013, Jon Matonis, former executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, joined as a contributing editor. That same month, CoinDesk introduced the Bitcoin Price Index, using data from Bitstamp, BTC-e, and CampBX. The index became a reference point for media outlets at a time when reliable Bitcoin pricing data was still limited.

In February 2014, CoinDesk covered the collapse of Mt. Gox, then the largest Bitcoin exchange. In 2015, it launched Consensus, an annual crypto and blockchain conference that later moved to New York in 2017 and drew thousands of participants. In January 2016, Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group bought CoinDesk for about $500,000 to $600,000. Later acquisitions included Lawnmower in 2017 and TradeBlock in 2021. CoinDesk Korea launched in December 2017.

On November 2, 2022, reporter Ian Allison published a story based on Alameda Research’s confidential balance sheet, showing its dependence on FTT, the token linked to FTX. On November 6, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao cited the report when announcing plans to sell FTT holdings. Nine days after the article, FTX filed for bankruptcy. The story later won Loeb and Polk awards. In November 2023, DCG sold CoinDesk to Bullish, while competitor CoinTelegraph continued under independent ownership.