According to Cointelegraph, the second quarter of 2025 saw a polarized and limited volume of mainstream media coverage on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, despite Bitcoin reaching an all-time high. Market intelligence firm Perception reported that 1,116 articles were published by 18 major media outlets during this period, revealing a "deeply polarized narrative landscape" in digital asset coverage. The report highlighted a significant divergence in sentiment, with 31% of articles being positive, 41% neutral, and 28% negative.
The report noted a notable lack of coverage from "elite financial publications" such as The Wall Street Journal, which published only two articles on Bitcoin in Q2. The Financial Times and The New York Times published 11 articles each, collectively accounting for just 2% of all mass media coverage on Bitcoin and crypto for the quarter. Perception identified three distinct narratives in Bitcoin coverage: "enthusiastic adoption" from outlets like Forbes and CNBC, "willful blindness" from The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, and "persistent skepticism" from traditional media.
High-volume financial media such as Forbes, CNBC, and Barron’s filled the gap left by top financial publications with extensive coverage, while traditional news outlets focused on crime and controversy. The research also highlighted significant variation in crypto topic distribution among news media. Forbes emphasized retail adoption, Bitcoin mining, and institutional adoption, while CNBC concentrated on banking and finance, market analysis, and investment vehicles. Fortune covered mining, banking, finance, and market analysis, whereas Fox News focused on crime, legal, and cybersecurity topics.
The report concluded that this disparity in coverage creates significant "information asymmetry," leaving investors who rely on elite financial media "systematically underinformed" about this emerging transformative asset class. This uneven distribution of information could impact investor decisions and perceptions of the cryptocurrency market.
