New Outset PR’s Q2 Media Report Reveals Just 28% of Crypto-Native Outlets Saw Growth in LATAM
The second quarter of 2025 has produced a major split in Latin America’s (LATAM) crypto media space; only less than a third of outlets managed to grow, while the majority slid further down.
The latest report from Outset PR, which analyzed the performance of the LATAM crypto media industry in Q2, shows that there is a sharp contrast between the few publishers (28%) who are surviving and the majority (72%) who are fading into the abyss, struggling to maintain visibility in an era where cryptocurrency adoption is on the rise.
These trends, driven by technological changes, market preferences, and increasing adoption, present a clear picture of where publishers and media planners should focus their strategies moving forward.
The Big Picture: A Clear Division Between Crypto-Native and Mainstream Media Growth
Outset PR’s data shows crypto-native outlets (those that focus only on topics like blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and Web3) in Latin America suffered a 54% quarter-on-quarter traffic drop, plunging from 17.85 million visits in Q1 to just 8.19 million in Q2.
On the other hand, mainstream publishers (those that cover crypto as part of a broader range of news or finance topics) added nearly 20 million visits in the same period. Their traffic grew from 243.75 million to 263.20 million in Q2, marking an 8% increase from Q1.
This split is what makes the 28% of crypto-native media sites that managed to grow stand out from the rest. Against the backdrop of such a steep overall decline, their ability to attract and even increase their audiences is quite remarkable given the circumstances in the industry.
Outset PR created a scoring system that looks at both how much these outlets grew relative to others (30%) and the total increase in their traffic (70%). This system identified the five outlets below as the growing leaders in Latin America:
Data sourced from Outset PR
Each of these publications managed to grow its audience while most of the sector contracted. They did mainly through creating localized content and optimizing it for both direct and organic search traffic.
The Declining Majority: A Broad Downturn
For most crypto-native outlets, Q2 saw a further decline in traffic. More than 70% of publishers lost visitors, continuing a downward trend that started earlier this year.
This decline is particularly noticeable among the top portals. In Q1, six outlets had over 400,000 monthly visits, but by Q2, only one managed to stay above that mark. With 1.35 million visits, CriptoNoticias now makes up 16% of all crypto-related traffic in Latin America. This shows how narrow the market has become with a few publishers starting to dominate.
Data sourced from Outset PR
The mid-tier outlets, including Cointelegraph Brasil, Bitfinanzas, and Livecoins, still account for 57.82% of the LATAM crypto media traffic. However, even their numbers are declining.
Meanwhile, other 30 smaller sites, which represent 25.75% of the LATAM crypto-related traffic, are continuing to struggle, with many finding it hard to stay relevant.
Why It Matters: Adoption Grows, Media Shrinks
In Q2, something interesting happened: while more people in Latin America started adopting cryptocurrency, the visibility of crypto-focused outlets dropped significantly.
According to data from RankingsLatAm, the region saw an 18.3% increase in unique crypto users, with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru making up almost 90% of that market.
Stablecoins are becoming a bigger part of everyday life. For example, Visa teamed up with Bridge to offer stablecoin-linked cards, Bybit launched promotions aimed at Latin America, and Tether invested €30 million in a company called Bit2Me, with a special focus on Argentina. Argentina is also advancing its efforts in tokenization through its BA Cripto program which even allows people to pay municipal taxes using cryptocurrency.
However, even as more people use crypto, the channels that usually inform users about it are becoming weaker. This disconnect is important to understand because it highlights why the decline in visibility for crypto-focused outlets matters. The industry risks losing independent voices that provide awareness and education, which is crucial for adoption.
Only 32% of Latin Americans view cryptocurrency transactions as secure, and educational gaps remain, making strong media coverage essential in the region.
Artificial Intelligence and Discovery: Another Growing Challenge
Beyond adoption trends, Outset PR’s survey of publishers revealed another structural challenge: the impact of AI on how people discover content. Editors in the region noted that traffic from Google is declining as more users turn to AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity for quick answers.
In Q2, referrals from AI made up 0.97% of traffic for crypto-native outlets, but they accounted for around 15% of referral traffic for many other sites. Mainstream websites are benefiting from this shift, as they have stronger domain authority and a wider reach.
Data sourced from Outset PR
Outset PR warns that if publishers don’t embrace AI-driven discovery using structured formats like FAQs or summaries, even those that are currently doing well could become irrelevant. To keep up, they will need to change their headlines, content formats, and distribution strategies as audiences increasingly rely on conversational AI instead of traditional search engines.
This trend aligns with Outset PR’s Eastern Europe report, where artificial intelligence referrals also disrupted traffic patterns.
A Regional Story, A Global Lesson
The data from LATAM fits into a larger global picture that Outset PR has been tracking each quarter. Crypto-focused outlets in Western Europe faced challenges with the first wave of MiCA regulations. Eastern Europe showed mixed signs of recovery. Latin America has demonstrated, again, that just because more people are adopting crypto doesn’t mean that media portals will thrive.
The Q2 research reveals a new reality: only a few outlets are surviving and growing. Out of many crypto-focused sites, just a small number are doing well, and even they have their own challenges. The ones that are succeeding aren’t guaranteed safety, while those that are struggling might disappear altogether.
For strategists, PR teams, publishers, and policymakers, the key takeaway is clear: visibility is changing, and competition for attention is tougher than ever. While crypto adoption is rising, the battle for influence is now focused among fewer players, with generalist media and AI platforms increasingly determining how crypto stories reach people.
For media planners, the report suggests it's time to rethink and restrategize. Outset PR recommends that planners consider breakout publishers, optimize for AI discovery, tap into mainstream audiences, address regional nuances, and diversify traffic sources. By following these steps, campaigns can gain better visibility in the current crypto media space and help brands stay strong as audience preferences have changed toward new channels and tools for finding information.
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