Crypto Media in Western Europe: A Wild Ride in Q1 2025

Hold onto your hats, crypto fans! The first quarter of 2025 brought some serious shake-ups to the crypto media scene in Western Europe. With the soft enforcement of MiCA starting to blur the lines on what counts as promo content, publishers were left scrambling. Add to that Google's March core update and shifting platform standards, and it's a recipe for chaos. A bunch of crypto-focused outlets just weren't ready for this storm, and their reach took a nosedive. But guess what? A few scrappy players not only survived—they thrived!

We dove deep into the data, checking out 133 publications across Western Europe—87 crypto die-hards and 46 generalists. Buckle up, because we're about to break down the wild ride of Q1 2025 and reveal how a handful of platforms cracked the code to stay in the game.

Visibility? Not a Given Anymore!

Get this: SimilarWeb data shows that a whopping 82% of those crypto-native publications saw their web traffic tank from January to March 2025. We're talking a drop from 26.57 million visits in January to just 22.22 million in March—a brutal 16.3% hit. And it's not just a fluke. This is a turning point, folks, fueled by a perfect storm: MiCA enforcement, changing promo content rules, Google's algo shake-up, new platform standards, and a market spooked by economic uncertainty.

Traffic's a Power-Law Party

Here's the kicker: out of those 87 crypto-native pubs, traffic distribution is all over the place, following a wild power-law curve. A few top dogs are hogging the spotlight:

Distribution of Western Europe's Crypto-Native Traffic, Q1 2025. Source: Outset PR analysis, based on SimilarWeb data

It's a clear sign that visibility's becoming a game for the few who've got their act together.

Country-Level Hotspots

Even though MiCA's a regional thing, traffic and media clout are still clustering in certain spots:

Core Traffic Centres for Western Europe's Crypto Media, Q1 2025. Source: Outset PR analysis, based on SimilarWeb data

The places with solid compliance cultures and strong editorial scenes are holding their own in this post-MiCA world, while others are struggling to keep up with the regulatory and algo rollercoaster.

Generalists Rule the Roost

Get ready for this: in Q1 2025, generalist outlets totally crushed it compared to their crypto-native cousins. Those 46 non-crypto-focused pubs pulled in a staggering 106.25 million visits—over four times what the crypto natives managed. And check this out: 19 finance-focused generalists racked up over 1 million monthly visits each, making up a massive 95.29% of total generalist traffic.

So, what's their secret? It's all about deeper content, broader topics, and beefier tech setups, letting them roll with the punches of changing markets and rules.

But here's the real game-changer: Google Discover. Data from SimilarWeb, Ahrefs, and our own testing shows only 29.89% of crypto-native sites made the cut for Discover, and just 22.99% got regular visibility. Meanwhile, 32.61% of generalist platforms kept a steady Discover presence, giving them a huge leg up in the traffic race.

With Discover loving on structured, compliant, and authoritative content, generalists are set up to keep raking in the clicks in this new MiCA world.

Lessons from the Survivors

Final Thought

Listen up, crypto world: media's how we tell our story. And as platforms, regulators, and users crank up the heat, being seen might just come down to having your ducks in a row, keeping it clear, and staying on your toes.

Crypto's no stranger to pressure, and neither is the media scene around it. Q1 2025 might just be the start of a whole new ballgame—one where it's not just about how loud you can shout, but how well you can stand the heat and keep up with the game.

In this new world, it's not just about volume—it's about trust, transparency, and staying relevant as the rules keep changing. If this trend sticks, the outlets adapting now could be the ones setting the pace for crypto storytelling tomorrow.