In our Q2 2025 analysis at Outset PR, we found that 63.1% of crypto-native outlets in Eastern Europe lost traffic, even as digital assets surged 21.72% after Q1’s 18% drop, outperforming the S&P 500 and most major indices.
Summary
- Outset PR’s Q2 2025 report shows 63.1% of Eastern European crypto-native outlets lost traffic, even as digital assets surged 21.7%.
- Discovery volatility, regulation, and AI-driven referral shifts weighed on visibility; Russia and Poland dominated traffic at 82% combined.
- Only 17 outlets drove over 80% of traffic, showing a heavily concentrated media landscape.
It’s a paradox: visibility declined despite clear bullish catalysts. The quarter brought strong ETF inflows, corporate Bitcoin acquisitions, the rise of altcoin treasuries, and looser U.S. regulatory conditions.
Yet, amid the downturn, standout outlets achieved remarkable gains, showing that growth is still possible with the right strategy and positioning. Our Eastern Europe crypto media report points to discovery volatility, regulatory headwinds, and shifting user behavior, including the growing role of generative AI tools, as key forces shaping visibility.
The takeaway isn’t just about the decline; it’s about recognizing where audiences are consolidating and how emerging discovery channels can be leveraged to stay ahead.
Regionally, however, discovery volatility, regulatory headwinds, and shifting user behavior, including the rise of generative AI tools, combined to impact visibility across the sector.
This echoes patterns we’ve tracked in earlier reports. In Q1 2025, our Latin America analysis showed 73% of outlets losing traffic amid increasing concentration. Our next report covering Western Europe revealed 82% of crypto-native outlets declining despite resilient generalist media under MiCA.
Together, these trends show a global shift toward fewer, more dominant media players controlling the conversation.
Crypto-native outlets saw sustained traffic decline
We used SimilarWeb data for 155 Eastern European outlets, consisting of 114 crypto-native and 43 generalist websites. We found that crypto-specialist sites suffered a steady month-over-month downturn:
- April: 7.72 million visits.
- May: 6.88 million (down 10.8% from April).
- June: 6.30 million (down 8.4% from May).
The 18.3% cumulative decline implies crypto-native outlets ended the quarter with 20.89 million visitors.
Several factors contributed to the downtrend: search algorithm updates, tighter content standards under EU guidelines, and the growing influence of AI-driven discovery. The same trend played out in Western Europe earlier this year, where favorable market sentiment alone was not enough to support media visibility.
Only 36.9% of outlets managed to show any growth, and we used a refined composite scoring system to identify which ones truly mattered. The model assigns 30% weight to relative traffic growth from April to June 2025 and 70% to absolute traffic gain, striking a balance between recognizing fast-rising outlets and those achieving significant, sustained audience increases.
By merging both indicators, the methodology highlighted five publishers that are not only expanding their reach but also accelerating in visibility, a clear signal of growing influence in Eastern Europe’s crypto media ecosystem.
Mainstream media saw milder decline, but losses persisted
Broad finance, technology, and news outlets did comparatively better, yet the results were hardly rosy. Traffic fell from 306.21 million in April to 301.16 million in May and 287.12 million in June, implying a 6% drop. In total, generalist outlets recorded 894.48 million visits in Q2. In the end, 37.5% gained, which also means 62.5% fell.
MonitorFX.pl was the exception. The Polish finance outlet jumped from just 1,092 visits in April to 38,139 in June, confirming breakout momentum from a low base. Similar growth stories, while rare, show that even smaller players can carve out influence if they adapt to algorithm changes, optimize for loyal audiences, and anticipate discovery trends like AI-driven referrals.
Eastern Europe’s crypto readership market is very much top-heavy. Specifically, 17 outlets accounted for 80.7% of all crypto-native traffic in the second quarter. Three tier-1 outlets averaged over 500,000 monthly visits each, generating 8.77 million visits, or 41.98% of the total traffic.
The next 14 tier-2 outlets drew between 100,000 and 499,000 visits per month, accounting for 8.09 million visits, or 38.73% of the total. Tier-3 counted 29 niche sites averaging 10,000–99,000 monthly visits and accounting for 17.33% of traffic.
At the bottom of the curve, 68 sites with sub-10,000 monthly visits collectively represented 1.96% of crypto-native traffic.
Russia and Poland dominate readership
Two markets dominated the region. Russia recorded 8.44 million visits (42.89%), while Poland reached 7.63 million (38.76%). The two accounted for roughly 82% of crypto-native traffic. The same holds for generalist media, where the two nations recorded 75% of nearly 895 million visits in Q2.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia each contributed around 4%, with Ukraine at 2.65% and Bulgaria at 2.17%. The rest fell under 1%, likely due to modest audience size or coverage mostly published in foreign languages.
Direct and search dominate crypto traffic
At 45.2%, direct was the top source, implying an obvious payoff for content built for return readers and loyal audiences. Organic search came next at 42.5%, keeping SEO near the top of the list. Referrals made up 6.6% from aggregators, rankings, and community hubs. Social brought in 5.2%, with YouTube driving the largest share of social traffic, followed by X and Facebook. Paid traffic was a non-factor at just 0.06%.
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity are emerging as referral sources. This is a relatively new trend, so for now, the overall impact remains small. Specifically, 20.6% of crypto-native outlets recorded AI-driven traffic in the quarter, accounting for a mere 0.65% of total traffic. Among generalist media, GenAI platforms were listed as referral sources by 41.8% of outlets and directed an estimated 566,596 visits in Q2 (0.06% of generalist traffic).
Regulatory complexity creates additional pressure
Regulatory environments vary by region and often influence content strategies. In Russia, publishers face a mixed signal from the government. Specifically, the country’s Ministry of Energy recently established a registry for cryptocurrency mining equipment as part of a continued opening toward the industry. Ironically, news outlets can’t host advertisements for mining companies as online marketing is prohibited.
Across Poland, Hungary, and Romania, MiCA reshaped compliance work, and several outlets said Google updates trimmed their traffic by rewarding alignment cues. Others doubled down on craft, transparent sponsor tags, and solid fact-checks. In Belarus, the clampdown meant retooling formats or shifting hosts to remain online.
Final thoughts
Q2 2025 demonstrated that strong market performance does not guarantee audience growth for crypto media. Around here, visibility hinges on three forces: how the feeds rank a website, whether AI surfaces it, and where the rules cut it off.
The good news? Concentration means impact can be achieved with targeted, well-placed coverage in the right outlets. New discovery tools, even if small today, are already reshaping how content is found, and those who adapt early will hold an edge. Winning websites share similar traits: flexibility, staying compliant, and learning new ways in which people discover news.
We’ll continue to publish these deep-dive regional analyses in the months ahead, tracking how AI, regulation, and platform shifts reshape crypto media visibility.
