Four fifths of crypto media outlets across Western Europe lost traffic in Q1 2025. This single statistic defines the quarter — and reshapes how crypto information reaches users across the continent.
According to Outset PR’s newly released report — building on their earlier Q1 analysis of crypto media declines in LATAM — the same downward trend played out in Western Europe between January and March, revealing a sharp contradiction: growing public interest in crypto, but shrinking media visibility.
The report tracked 133 Western European outlets, of which 87 were crypto-focused, using SimilarWeb and Ahrefs to measure traffic and search visibility. A clear majority of crypto-only sites saw audience declines — driven by the combined effects of MiCA-aligned regulatory pressure, Google’s March algorithm update, and shifting search behaviors tied to market volatility.
As the EU’s first comprehensive crypto framework, MiCA began reshaping media visibility by forcing outlets to rethink compliance, language, and even tone — well before full enforcement kicked in.
During the aforementioned timeframe, traffic across crypto-native media dropped from 26.57 million to 22.22 million visits, a decline of more than 16%. To understand the full weight of that 82%, it needs to be broken down by region, language, and outlet structure to see who survived, who collapsed, and why.
Western Europe crypto media performance: data sourced from Outset PR
Where the Declines Were Sharpest: Regional Breakdown
Outset PR tracks MiCA’s varied impact on crypto media across Western European countries
Based on Outset PR’s findings, the hardest-hit countries were Italy and Spain, with both seeing over 70% of tracked crypto outlets lose visibility in Q1.
In Italy, this decline was especially striking given that it leads the region in crypto interest — 37% of the population expresses active engagement. The downturn was largely driven by regulatory scrutiny from CONSOB, which targeted influencer-led content and investment-style messaging. Top Italian outlets lost nearly half their traffic. Only Borsainside maintained consistent growth, ending the quarter up 15.96%.
In Spain, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) began enforcing strict advertising guidelines, which led to a significant reduction in ad-supported content and discoverability. Although Bit2Me News surged 149.4% in March — making it one of the top performers across the region — most other Spanish-language outlets ended the quarter with traffic in decline.
Germany: Europe’s Largest Crypto Language Market Still Struggled
German-speaking outlets made up nearly 40% of the crypto-native platforms reviewed in Outset PR’s dataset. Despite this dominant share, the German market faced significant visibility challenges in Q1. In February, the financial regulator BaFin issued new guidance that warned against any investment-like promotion from unlicensed parties — including media platforms.
Amid these developments, outlets like Coin-Update, Krypto Magazin, and BitcoinBlog.de saw sharp traffic declines. Although a few sites posted gains in March, more than half of the region’s crypto-focused German-language publishers continued trending downward at quarter’s end.
A key exception was CoinJournal DE, which grew 23.90% in Q1. Backed by Investoo Group, the outlet benefited from shared SEO expertise, multilingual publishing capabilities, and regulatory infrastructure. These elements allowed it to navigate algorithmic changes and new content standards more effectively than independent competitors.
France: Transparent Labels Became the Differentiator
In France, regulatory enforcement from the AMF focused on transparency rather than restrictions, prompting algorithmic suppression of outlets that failed to properly label promotions or disclose financial risks. By February, 72% of French-language crypto platforms had lost traffic.
Some sites like The Blog saw their visibility collapse almost entirely. Others, such as Blockchain France and InvestX, rebounded by March, likely due to cleaner disclaimer practices, improved metadata, and expansion into multilingual publishing.
The divide in outcomes highlights the start of a more polarized crypto media environment in France, where clarity and compliance are now essential for sustainable reach.
Dutch-Language Media Faced Algorithmic Whiplash
Outlets serving readers in the Netherlands and Belgium faced no direct media restrictions from regulators during Q1. However, their heavy reliance on SEO and Google visibility made them especially vulnerable to algorithmic shifts.
Outset PR’s report also shows that in February, 76% of Dutch-speaking crypto outlets reported traffic losses. High-profile names like Bitcoin Magazine NL fell 36.78%, while Bitcoinspot.nl dropped 39.30%. A few properties — such as Beste Bank and Coinmarketcap.nl —bounced back in March, thanks to stronger content quality and diversified link-building strategies.
Still, most Dutch-language outlets were unable to regain their January positions, demonstrating the inherent risk of traffic models built almost entirely around search visibility.
UK Outlets Felt the Ripple Effects of Domestic Policy
Although the United Kingdom is not bound by MiCA, local regulation had a comparable impact. In early January, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expanded its financial promotions regime to include crypto. This contributed to widespread visibility losses for UK-facing outlets, especially those featuring unverified affiliate offers or poorly labeled advertorials.
Most UK crypto-native platforms saw traffic decline across the quarter. Only The Market Periodical and MyCryptoSpaceUK posted quarterly gains, though both averaged well below 100K monthly visits. Meanwhile, Cryptouk.io and Bitcourier continued trending downward, underscoring that even outside of MiCA, enforcement and algorithm shifts are reshaping how crypto media operates in the UK.
No UK-based outlet crossed the 500K monthly visit threshold, suggesting that while regulation played a role, overall readership remained modest compared to Germany, France, or the Netherlands.
Tiered Media Analysis: Who Still Commands Reach?
Outset PR’s analysis revealed that traffic is concentrated among a small group of top-tier publishers. Just seven outlets surpassed 1 million monthly visits, together accounting for 60.26% of the region’s total crypto-native traffic.
A mid-tier of six outlets generated between 500K and 900K monthly visits, accounting for another 18% of total visibility. Beyond these two groups, 58 outlets attracted fewer than 100K monthly visits each, combining for only 6.24% of the total audience.
While 16 outlets did post traffic increases during Q1, most of them grew by percentage, not by reach. Only Newsbit.de combined high growth with consistently strong reach above the 1 million mark.
Mainstream Finance Media Outperformed Crypto-Native Outlets
In contrast to crypto-specific sites, generalist finance, tech, and economic publications proved far more resilient. Outset PR tracked 46 such platforms in Western Europe, and 25 of them posted quarterly growth. Together, they generated over 106 million visits, dwarfing the 22 million visits recorded by crypto-only sites.
These outlets benefited from strong domain authority, broader editorial scopes, and less reliance on price-based speculation content. Outset PR notes that finance-first platforms have become vital for crypto PR efforts — especially in a MiCA-enforced environment where credibility and compliance now define reach.
Google Discover Favors Structured, Compliant Media
As Outset PR notes, the battle for traffic in Q1 extended beyond search rankings — into Google Discover, where surfacing now reflects a site’s editorial structure and legal hygiene. Only 22.99% of crypto-native outlets maintained consistent presence in Google Discover in Q1 2025.
By comparison, 32.61% of non-crypto-native outlets appeared consistently in Discover. Nine of these sites surpassed 1 million monthly visits, confirming the importance of technical compliance and editorial credibility in Google’s evolving news ecosystem.
Outset PR’s report makes one thing clear: the traffic drop experienced by crypto-covering media outlets in Western Europe during Q1 2025 was a structural reset. Regulation, platform policies, and evolving search engine standards have raised the bar for visibility, and many crypto publishers found themselves unprepared for the new terrain.
In this cycle, survival hinges on multilingual reach, legal clarity, and editorial agility. SEO depth, risk disclaimers, and compliance-ready publishing aren’t just best practices — they’re the price of admission. As the standout data-driven agency with a boutique approach to crypto communications, Outset PR emphasizes the importance of tailoring media planning to business goals, market dynamics, and regional nuances.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
Source: https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2025/07/outset-pr-finds-82-of-crypto-media-lost-traffic-as-mica-took-hold-in-western-europe-italy-and-spain-hit-hardest