Jason Yanowitz and Mike Ippolito, co-founders of Blockworks, announce their acquisition of Messari, the crypto data platform founded by Ryan Selkis and Dan McArdle, later led by Eric Turner and currently run by Duran. Both companies have spent 8+ years focused on bringing transparency to crypto markets, with Blockworks starting from media distribution and moving into data, while Messari began with quantitative data and built a comprehensive crypto Bloomberg.

The conversation explores why this acquisition makes strategic sense at a pivotal moment in crypto's evolution. While tokenization of traditional assets is succeeding, trust in crypto markets has eroded due to lack of standardized disclosures and data. The hosts argue that crypto is transitioning from a fringe, experimental phase to rebuilding global finance infrastructure, requiring institutional-grade transparency and compliance tools.

Why Messari: Complementary Data Strategies Converge

Blockworks and Messari pursued opposite but complementary approaches to crypto data over 8 years, with Messari going broad across 40,000 assets while Blockworks went deep on specific protocols

Messari's API covers assets, markets, exchanges, news, on-chain events, research, stablecoins, protocol data, token unlocks, fundraising, and social sentiment - "probably the strongest API in the industry for crypto data" - Jason

Both companies share the mission of "increasing transparency for investors and promoting fundamental-based decision-making in crypto" with Blockworks focused on "increasing trust in on-chain markets"

The acquisition creates "a match made in heaven" combining Blockworks' deep protocol expertise with Messari's comprehensive data warehouse and enterprise customer expansion

Institutional Bull, Token Bear: Crypto's Trust Crisis

Crypto is experiencing an "institutional bull market, but a bear market for tokens" where tokenization succeeds but individual token trust has collapsed

"Founders will regularly post revenue, which is overstated by 10x. That is crazy. It's not good" - Jason, highlighting the industry's accountability problem

"Right now, even just speaking personally, I'm not buying any tokens that I don't know if their metrics are actually coming from incentive campaigns and the token's going to dump 90%" - Jason

The core problem is information asymmetry: "It's hard to underwrite the industry" whether you're an exchange listing tokens, an investor buying them, or a regulator reviewing them

Crypto no longer has external enemies - "There's no boogeyman, guys. We're just losing. We haven't produced competitive assets that people want to buy" - Jason

Three-Layer Solution: Disclosures, Data, Markets

Layer one requires mandatory disclosures similar to TradFi S-1 filings: "Incentive campaigns are a perfectly legitimate strategy. You should just have to disclose this stuff"

Layer two demands standardized data accounting: "There should be standards. You should not be able to - in fact, if you were a public company CEO, you overstated your revenue publicly, that's criminal"

Layer three focuses on market infrastructure for exchanges and financial institutions needing compliance, monitoring, and asset diligence capabilities

The TTF (Token Transparency Framework) will expand beyond tokens to "on-chain stocks, RWAs" requiring standard disclosures for all on-chain asset issuers

AI-Powered Finance: Live Data Streams Replace Static Reports

Traditional investor relations involves manually matching footnotes across quarterly reports, but the future should be "a dataset that you can query super easily, answer any question that an analyst possibly might want"

On-chain data combined with LLMs enables instant credit scoring "at 10% of the cost" compared to traditional credit rating agencies for bond issuances

"All of that data should be streamed live, should be on-chain data that you can hit whenever" rather than quarterly static filings

Messari's fastest growing customer base is "AI agents" highlighting the convergence of crypto data and artificial intelligence applications

Blockworks Business Model: Issuers and Underwriters

Blockworks serves two customer types: "issuers of on-chain assets" (protocols, chains, foundations, stablecoins, RWAs) and "underwriters of those assets" (investors, regulators, exchanges, custodians)

For issuers, Blockworks provides investor relations through comprehensive datasets, investor connections, and TTF disclosure framework submission to regulatory agencies

For underwriters, the company offers monitoring, compliance, due diligence tools, and standardized data licensing across "the largest data set in crypto by a really wide margin"

The business strategy follows "land and expand" - starting with deep protocol mapping for investor relations, then expanding into monitoring, diligence, and other workflow needs

Winner-Take-All Data Dynamics in Rebuilt Finance

Traditional finance information platforms like Moody's ($80 billion) and S&P ($120 billion) are "oftentimes bigger than most of the actual businesses that operate on NASDAQ and NYSE"

Crypto data represents a "winner-take-all dynamic" because "once you control the data, it allows you to unlock all of these different use cases"

Legacy ratings and research businesses "required enormous headcount" but crypto data is "already digital, structured, and real-time" and "transparent and public"

"We don't think there's ever going to be a Bloomberg of crypto. That's like the Uber of X. There haven't been any other Ubers. That's a business model from a different time"

Industry Optimism Despite Token Performance

"We're getting everything on paper. We're getting everything that we wanted. The industry has been accepted. No one's trying to ban it" - Jason on regulatory acceptance

Early crypto participants included ideological cypherpunks wanting "anarchism, state-free money" and "degenerate gamblers" seeking 1000x returns, but mainstream adoption requires compromises

"The tokens are down while the AI stonks are up" causing perception problems, but "this industry doesn't work without the tokens. They're not separate. Fixing tokens are existential"

"Rebuilding finance is not a billion dollar industry" but a multi-trillion dollar opportunity requiring the right capital allocation to successful founders

Resources Mentioned

Silent Spring

Rachel Carson's 1962 environmental warning about pesticides was referenced as an example of early predictions that were initially dismissed but later vindicated, drawing a parallel to how crypto industry warnings about transparency and trust issues have been similarly overlooked.