Crypto Media Traffic Collapsed In LATAM Despite Rising Adoption, Q1 Analysis Finds

A data-driven report by Outset PR, analyzing traffic trends across Latin American crypto, finance, and newsrooms

Crypto adoption in Latin America is booming, with on-chain value reaching $415 billion in 2024 — a 42.5% year-over-year increase that positioned the region as the second-fastest-growing crypto market globally. By early 2025, the number of crypto users was estimated at 55 million, with 95% planning to expand their exposure this year. 

Stablecoins have become central to usage across the region: in Brazil, 90% of crypto flows were associated with stablecoins, reflecting their dominant role in remittances and inflation hedging.

While adoption accelerates, regulation is catching up. According to PwC's Global Crypto Regulation Report 2025, Brazil's central bank is prioritizing stablecoin oversight and licensing frameworks, and has begun piloting its Drex central bank digital currency (CBDC) using DLT infrastructure. Argentina, meanwhile, launched a national registry for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in 2024 to enhance transparency and enforce FATF guidelines, even as its central bank reaffirmed that stablecoins and cryptocurrencies do not qualify as legal tender.

A new dataset compiled by Outset PR reveals that nearly three-quarters of Latin American crypto outlets saw their traffic decline between January and March 2025. If crypto is maturing into a foundational layer of Latin America's financial ecosystem, why are the very outlets meant to document and support that growth struggling to keep their heads above water? We audited crypto-facing media across LATAM to understand what this disconnect really signals.

Get Started

Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and More Instantly — No Wallets, No Hassle

Speculate on price movements, claim up to $200 in bonuses, and start with risk-free paper trading with crypto futures on Plus500.

Get Started

Disclosure: 82% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Methodology

This report was developed by Outset PR's analytics team to evaluate the performance of crypto-related media outlets in Latin America during the first quarter of 2025. 

To build this analysis, we used publicly available traffic estimates from SimilarWeb, tracking total monthly visits (desktop and mobile) to crypto-native newsrooms, finance/crypto hybrids, and general business outlets that provide crypto coverage.

From an initial pool, the dataset was narrowed down to a clean sample of 55 outlets based on the following criteria:

• The outlet was active and publishing during the January–March 2025 period (no dormant, redirected, or rebranded domains).
  
• The outlet generated consistent traffic data across all three months, avoiding newly launched sites without representative baselines.
  
• A majority or significant share of the outlet's audience originated from Latin America — either as the top geography or within the top three, based on SimilarWeb's geo breakdown. 

The study looked at total visits, month-by-month changes, and cumulative traffic volume. What we found revealed clear trends: audiences concentrated around a few dominant sites, while many platforms lost momentum.

A Quarter of Disruption and Realignment

Q1 2025 was a turbulent quarter shaped by market swings, shifting search dynamics, and broader macroeconomic signals. What started off strong turned into a stress test for news outlets across the region.

January Market Boom and Media Surge 

Fueled by institutional demand, ETF approvals, and President Trump's re-election, Bitcoin reached an all-time high above $109K. In Latin America, the surge coincided with rumors about integrations between crypto and national payment systems, blurring the line between economic reform and misinformation. These narratives helped draw traffic not just to crypto-native publications but also to finance and general news media experimenting with crypto content. Across the region, crypto-relevant media recorded 94.48 million visits in January — a peak that would not hold.

February Traffic Falls Across the Board 

The next month brought a sharp correction. A major exchange hack, meme coin implosions, and geopolitical tension from new tariffs dampened investor confidence. Bitcoin fell by 17%, while some altcoins lost up to 50% of their value. At the same time, Google began rolling out a core algorithm update that shifted how content was indexed and surfaced.

Traffic losses were widespread. More than three-quarters of tracked outlets lost visibility, with only one in five managing to grow. Overall traffic dropped to 81.53 million visits — a nearly 14% decline compared to January.

March Uneven Recovery and Growing Polarization

Bitcoin continued its slide, fluctuating between $83K and $94K. A brief bump followed an announcement from the U.S. administration regarding a strategic Bitcoin reserve, but it failed to stabilize sentiment. The Google update took full effect, forcing many outlets to reevaluate their discoverability strategies.

Though nearly half of the outlets grew their audiences, the gains were uneven. Some platforms rebounded strongly by pivoting to regionally focused or diversified content. Yet, a large portion of the ecosystem remained in decline. Total visits in March recovered slightly to 85.59 million — a 5% bump from February, but still far from January's high.

Q1 2025 LATAM Crypto Media Traffic. Data sourced from Outset PR 

Quarterly Patterns Show Structural Weakness 

Q1's media trends reflect a deeper challenge: many crypto-focused outlets in Latin America struggled to keep their visibility up amid changing search engine rules.

A few standout platforms did grow, typically by serving niche regional audiences or doubling down on trusted reporting. But they were the exception. Major finance and news domains that dipped into crypto saw traffic gains in January but offered little consistency afterward. During downturns, these larger players tend to retreat from digital asset coverage altogether.

Of all the 38 crypto-only outlets analyzed, just six exceeded 400,000 monthly visits — and those six captured 69% of all traffic (4.11 million visits) in that category. In stark contrast, over half of all crypto-native sites reached fewer than 91,000 monthly visits, and 14 drew under 10,000. None crossed the million-visit threshold. 

Q1 2025 LATAM Crypto-Native Media Traffic Distribution

Brazil continues to lead in audience volume, with more than half of the most visited crypto-specific sites publishing in Brazilian Portuguese. But this centralization concentrates risk around regulatory shifts. For example, by the end of March, at least one outlet became inaccessible in Brazil, potentially due to changes in advertising and content laws.

Elsewhere, non-crypto-native domains briefly filled visibility gaps but proved unreliable in the long run. Their coverage is reactive, not sustained.

Final Takeaway

During Latin America's rapid crypto evolution, these findings highlight a clear gap: booming adoption doesn't automatically bring stronger media visibility. That disconnect cuts both ways—a growing user base needs reliable information, and news outlets need stable reach to stay influential.

To stay visible in LATAM's shifting landscape, crypto campaigns require precision, not spray-and-pray tactics. The platforms and audiences are still there, but they demand relevance, not repetition. Understanding this gap is the first step to bridging it.