In the second quarter of 2025, Bitcoin (BTC) reached a historic milestone, surpassing its all-time high of $111,900. Additionally, cryptocurrency recorded its highest quarterly returns since 2020.
However, a new report from the perceptions of market intelligence firm Bitcoin shows that mainstream media coverage remained surprisingly sparse and divided.
“Deliberate blindness” and “skepticism”: How Bitcoin media coverage divides the industry
In their latest report, recognition revealed that in the second quarter, 1,116 articles about Bitcoin were published in 18 major media outlets. The emotions were split. 31% showed positive tones, 41% remained neutral and 28% adopted negative tones.
“Bitcoin’s mainstream media coverage of the second quarter of 2025 revealed a deep, biased landscape of narratives,” the report read.
Additionally, the report identified three different editorial narratives that shape Bitcoin coverage: “Deliberate blindness,” “Permanent skepticism,” and “Frenzy adoption.” Previous stories are exemplified by limited coverage from elite financial publications.
The recognition highlighted that the Wall Street Journal has only published two articles on Bitcoin. Meanwhile, the Financial Times and The New York Times have each released 11.
“The FT and WSJ have determined that they have less coverage than the minutes of the European Central Bank meetings – a outlet that reports breathlessly on the movement of any baseline of Italian bond yields,” the recognition states.
This coverage disparity creates what perceptions describe as “large information asymmetry” for investors. Those who rely on these media are missing out on important information about Bitcoin.
As a result, information is advantageous for investors who look to media outlets that acknowledge the relevance and performance of Bitcoin.
“This editorial blindness from the Agenda setting outlet reveals more about institutional capture than the relevance of Bitcoin. Bitcoin doesn’t require the approval of BlockBuster, which Netflix needs. It doesn’t matter if Bitcoin is sufficient for the Wall Street Journal.
Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal published the fewest articles on Bitcoin, but its sister publication, Barron’s, published 65. The publication was ranked as the third most negative outlet, but more articles showed that the latter did not completely ignore Bitcoin.
“Baron’s paradox exposes the WSJ’s editorial dysfunction. Does the WSJ choose to approve the institutional dinner party over market reality?” the report noted.
Perception analysis highlighted that out of 65 articles, 48% were neutral, 25% were positive, and 27% were negative. All articles covering institutional adoption and banking and finance were negative, but only 35.7% of articles on investment instruments shared the same tone.
Besides Baron, other traditional media such as The Independent and Fox News also contributed to the narrative of “lasting skepticism.” They all focused on crime and controversy.
45 independent articles have been published, of which 42% were negative. Additionally, Fox News has released 32 articles. 38% of the articles were negative.
“Their massive amounts of negative coverage have at least acknowledged the Bitcoin coverage, and they’re one step ahead of the elite outlets pretending it doesn’t exist,” Confession writes.
Despite this, Bitcoin still received a lot of positive coverage. Forbes, CNBC, and Fortune were leaning towards “fanatic adoption,” highlighting institutional and retail adoption trends, Bitcoin mining and market analysis.
Forbes produced 194 articles, 43% of which were positive. CNBC was second in 141 articles, with 42% of that being positive. Finally, 25% of Fortune’s 117 articles supported a similar approach.
“Forbes essentially replaced the Wall Street Journal as a financial publication of the digital asset economy record. While WSJ is sticking to the asset class of the 20th century, Forbes covers what is actually moving markets and restructuring finance,” Perception said.
Notably, Forbes and CNBC also provided strong positive coverage of Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, Baron’s reporting was relatively positive. However, the tone shifted in the second quarter.
The Post’s mainstream financial publications largely ignored Bitcoin in the second quarter, the report revealed that it first appeared on Beincrypto.
