In the second quarter of 2025, Bitcoin drew very different reactions from the top names in financial news. According to data gathered by market intelligence firm Perception, from 18 major outlets, there were 1,116 Bitcoin articles published between April and June.
Overall sentiment leaned a bit negative: 31% of headlines were tagged positive, 41% came across as neutral, and 28% fell into negative territory.
Elite Media Coverage Gaps
The Wall Street Journal ran just two Bitcoin stories in Q2. The Financial Times managed 11, and the New York Times ran another 11.
That’s a tiny share compared with other reports these papers produce—especially odd for an asset that has outperformed almost everything else over the past decade.
Based on the study conducted by Perception, these outlets treated Bitcoin almost as if it were off their radar. By comparison, those same weeks saw in‑depth coverage of ECB bond yields and quarterly earnings from large retailers.
High Volume Outlets Step In
At the other end of the theater were high‑output financial titles. Forbes led the pack with 194 articles, tagging 43% as positive and 24% as negative.
CNBC published 141 pieces, with a 42% positive rate and just 17% negative. Fortune added 117 stories, splitting 25% positive against 18% negative.
These publishers hardly ignored Bitcoin; they treated it as a moving market, not a fringe topic. They also drilled into specific angles—75% positive on retail adoption in Forbes, and 100% positive on institutional moves, for example.
Warnings From Negative Coverage
Other outlets leaned the opposite way. The Independent ran 45 Bitcoin articles but marked 42% of them as negative versus only 18% positive.
Fox News produced 32 reports with 38% negative headlines, often focused on crime and security. Barron’s—ironically part of the same group as the Journal—put out 65 Bitcoin stories, nearly split between 25% positive and 27% negative tones.
These critical takes still kept Bitcoin in the pages, but they painted it mostly as a risk zone.
Real‑Time Tracking Can Help Investors
Investors who rely only on elite papers may miss big moves. When Barron’s runs 65 stories but its parent paper runs two, there’s a clear gap in what each audience sees.
By tracking headlines and sentiment as they appear—instead of waiting three months for a quarterly report—traders can spot shifts faster.
According to analysts, setting up a simple dashboard that taps multiple outlets could highlight when a bullish run is building or when warning signs are rising.
What It Means For Readers
This split coverage matters. If you’re reading only the Journal and the FT, you might think Bitcoin is a niche topic. If you’re following Forbes or CNBC, you’ll see it as a major market force.
Based on these numbers, the big takeaway is simple: broaden your news sources. That way, you’re less likely to get blindsided by Bitcoin’s next big move.
As the sages would say: the more, the merrier.
Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView