CoinDesk editor-in-chief Pete Rizzo departs after 6 years

Layer 1s • September 25, 2019, 12:29PM EDT
UPDATED: September 25, 2019, 4:58PM EDT
The Block

CoinDesk editor-in-chief Pete Rizzo is no longer with the publication, sources close to the matter told The Block. 

According to Rizzo's LinkedIn profile, he joined the blockchain news site in 2014, less than a year after CoinDesk was founded. While at CoinDesk, he led both the daily news site CoinDesk.com and the monthly report CoinDesk Research. Previously, Rizzo had a nine-month stint at payments-focused publication PYMNT.com. 

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Rizzo's departure follows the announcement that CoinDesk is moving into the same building with its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). The move was initially opposed by many CoinDesk employees, according to sources, including Rizzo, who were worried that being in the same office with DCG would damage the publication's reputation and deteriorate reader trust.

Sources said CoinDesk's editorial team will be temporarily helmed by managing editor Marc Hochstein. Meanwhile, Michael Casey, who is currently sitting on the publication's advisory board, will become the chief content officer, sources said. Hochstein was the editor-in-chief at American Banker prior to joining CoinDesk, while Casey spent 18 years at the Wall Street Journal. 

Rizzo has not responded to The Block's request for comments. 

About Author

Celia joined The Block as a reporter after earning her BA in the History of Science from the University of Chicago. Having spent years pondering over why 2+2 cannot equal 5, she is interested in the history and philosophy of mathematics, computation, and cryptography. She also had a very brief stint at Crunchbase News.