Blockworks acquires blockchain data platform Messari, eyes consolidation

Blockworks announced today that it acquired Messari, combining two rival crypto data and intelligence businesses into a single platform that covers more than 40,000 digital assets. 

Blockworks’ acquisition came after it completed a Series A extension at a $192 million valuation. The deal represents the company’s first major financial commitment to expanding its business by absorbing another entity.

The Blockworks-Messari acquisition 

Blockworks is a crypto data platform that recently completed its first major acquisition by buying Messari, another crypto data company. The deal brings together two of the biggest information businesses in the crypto industry, founded just 90 days apart. However, the financial terms of the Messari acquisition were not disclosed in the announcement.

Blockworks also recently completed a Series A extension that gave the company a value of $192 million. Michael Ippolito, co-founder of Blockworks, called the deal “a homecoming” after years of competing against each other.

Messari’s platform covers many areas, including asset data, market data, protocol analytics, token unlock schedules, fundraising records, social sentiment tracking, and an API used by hedge funds, exchanges, custodians, and regulators.

Blockworks was founded in 2018 and built its business around events, podcasts, and research. More recently, it added a data product for big investors. The company employs about 100 people across a dozen countries and reported it was on track to make more than $30 million in revenue in 2025. The price of an annual data license recently shot up to $4,500 from $2,500 due to strong demand from big investors.

Prior to the acquisition, Messari appeared to be winding down Mainnet, its big New York conference. 

Will crypto data companies consolidate? 

Blockworks thinks its deal is part of a bigger trend in which the crypto data industry will consolidate, or come together, just like traditional Wall Street information services did. In the past, the financial data market became controlled by a few big firms like Bloomberg, S&P Global, and FactSet. 

The company also sees artificial intelligence (AI) as a major reason for this deal. AI programs need lots of digital, structured data to work well. Yanowitz noted that in older markets, research required many human analysts. But in crypto, the information is already digital and available in real-time, which makes it perfect for AI.

Messari’s current products and data coverage will continue under the combined company. In the near future, Blockworks plans to focus on a few key areas, including expanding data coverage, making the APIs stronger, improving tools for investor relations, building better compliance workflows, and creating what Blockworks calls “AI-native workflows.”