What DL News does

DL News was a cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) news media platform, founded in 2022 as the editorial arm of the DefiLlama data platform. It published coverage across DeFi, Regulation, Markets, Web3, Snapshot, People & Culture, Deals, Llama U, and Opinion verticals on dlnews.com, supplemented by an ETF Tracker offering real-time price monitoring for Bitcoin and Ethereum, a Newsletters subscription product, and Llama U educational content. The platform was built on a standard web-based content management system; no public API, SDK, or developer platform was offered, and content syndication was limited to RSS feeds under separate terms.

DL News operated a two-stream business model. The core news operation relied on traffic-based advertising and sponsorship revenue, but management publicly concluded that the operation could not achieve commercial viability without meaningful audience scale, particularly in an environment of contracting crypto-media traffic and AI-disrupted search distribution. The second stream, DL Research (launched as a commercial arm in 2024), provided institutional clients with paid research reports, interviews, and market insights, and generated the bulk of monetizable revenue — achieving 270% growth and crossing seven figures in annual sales in 2025.

The company is incorporated as DL News LLC in Delaware, USA, with operational ties to Dubai, UAE. It served a horizontal audience of retail crypto traders, DeFi users, and institutional clients. Following an internal conflict at DefiLlama in early 2023 that severed operational alignment, DL News announced the closure of its news operation at the end of May 2025. In July 2026, DefiLlama publicly disclosed that DL News and its assets had been taken over by unidentified new owners, terminating the historical brand relationship.

Name

DL News

Legal name

DL News LLC

Website

https://dlnews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

DL News is a cryptocurrency and DeFi news platform that published editorial coverage on dlnews.com, an ETF Tracker, newsletters, and DL Research institutional reports. It served retail crypto participants and institutional clients before announcing closure in May 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dubai

HQ country

United Arab Emirates

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. DL Research commercial arm: Research and analysis services for institutional clients that achieved 270% revenue growth and crossed seven figures in annual sales in 2025
2. News content and audience monetization: Traffic-based advertising and sponsorship model, though unable to achieve commercial viability without meaningful audience scale

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

DL News operates a crypto and blockchain editorial news platform (dlnews.com) publishing coverage across DeFi, Regulation, Markets, Web3, Snapshot, People & Culture, Deals, Llama U, and Opinion categories. The platform is supplemented by a real-time ETF and cryptocurrency price tracker, an email newsletter subscription service, and a commercial research arm (DL Research) that produces and sells in-depth market research, interviews, and analysis reports to institutional crypto clients.

Product overview

DL News operated a crypto/blockchain news media platform (dlnews.com) as its core offering, publishing editorial coverage across multiple topic categories (DeFi, Regulation, Markets, Web3, Snapshot, People & Culture, Deals, Llama U, Opinion). The platform was supplemented by an ETF Tracker tool for real-time cryptocurrency price monitoring, a Newsletters email subscription service, and DL Research — a research and analysis sub-brand producing interviews, reports, and market insights. Llama U provided educational content. The company launched in 2022 as the crypto news arm of DefiLlama, announced its closure in May 2025, and its assets were subsequently taken over by new owners in 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DL News (dlnews.com) Core editorial news platform publishing crypto and DeFi coverage for individual traders, investors, and industry participants globally.
• DL Research Commercial research and analysis service producing in-depth reports, interviews, spotlight features, and market insights for institutional crypto and digital asset clients.
• DL News Newsletters Email subscription service delivering curated crypto and blockchain news updates and market coverage directly to subscribers' inboxes.

Quantifiable outcome

• DL Research achieved 270% revenue growth in 2025
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DefiLlamacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Originally the crypto news arm of DefiLlama, established as a content extension of the DeFi data platform. A major internal conflict at DefiLlama in early 2023 effectively separated DL News from its parent company, leaving them tied to the brand without operational alignment or distribution access. In July 2026, DefiLlama announced that DL News and its assets had been taken over by new owners, severing all affiliation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Messari: Crypto research and intelligence platform with paid institutional research and free editorial content — the closest comp to DL Research's institutional research monetization.
• The Block: Crypto news and research platform with institutional research arm (The Block Research). Closely mirrors DL News's editorial-plus-research structure and DeFi/markets focus.
• CryptoSlate: Independent crypto news and data site covering DeFi, regulation, and markets; comparable scale and audience model to DL News.
• CoinDesk: One of the largest crypto-native news outlets, covering markets, DeFi, regulation, and Web3. Most directly comparable to DL News in audience, beat, and advertising-plus-research monetization mix.
• BeInCrypto: Global crypto news outlet covering markets, DeFi, and regulation with a similar content-first, ad-supported GTM.
• The Defiant: DeFi-focused newsletter and news site — most comparable in its deep DeFi specialization and Substack/newsletter-led distribution model.
• Cointelegraph: Long-running crypto news outlet with global coverage of markets, regulation, and DeFi — overlapping audience and content categories with DL News.
• Blockworks: Crypto media and research firm covering institutional crypto, DeFi, and macro; comparable in editorial depth and institutional research overlap with DL Research.
• Decrypt: Independent crypto news outlet covering DeFi, NFTs, Web3, and regulation with a similar content-led, advertising-supported model.

Others

• DefiLlama: Former parent platform of DL News — the DeFi data and analytics aggregator that DL News was originally built on top of. Highly relevant given the historical ownership and operational ties.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DLNewsInfo
• Facebookfacebook.com/DLNewsInfo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dlnewsinfo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DL News