The Crypto Wave Is Rising in Brazil, But LATAM’s Media Reach Is Fading — Outset PR’s Q1 Report Breaks It Down

Latin America’s crypto boom is the real deal, and in Brazil, it’s especially strong, but according to a new Q1 2025 report from Outset PR, the region’s crypto media landscape is collapsing just as adoption surges.

From mid-2023 through mid-2024 this crypto-forward zone saw nearly $415 billion in crypto inflows, representing a 42.5% year-over-year increase. At this rate, LATAM ranks as the world’s second-fastest-growing market.

Within Latin America, four countries rank among the world’s top 20 for crypto adoption, Brazil notably placing ninth. The country pairs strong user engagement with a regulatory environment that remains broadly constructive. While it’s often overshadowed by El Salvador – the world’s first nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender – Brazil distinguishes itself through a more measured, infrastructure-driven approach. Its focus on fintech collaboration, institutional readiness, and regulatory progress positions it as a long-term leader in crypto integration.

Lawmakers recently introduced a bill (PL 957/2025) to allow up to 50% of wages to be paid in Bitcoin with the rest in the country’s native reais. This would make Brazil one of the first countries to officially accommodate crypto payrolls. The central bank has signaled a more open stance toward stablecoin usage by reconsidering a prior ban that limits transfers of stablecoins to self-custody wallets.

Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil’s largest crypto exchange, has inked major partnerships: it is Ripple’s first Brazilian client for a blockchain-based payment solution, and it just announced a deal to tokenize $40 million of Brazilian assets on the Plume Network.

Even traditional banks are catching up. Brazil’s BTG Pactual has launched blockchain investing tools, and a pilot digital-real/CBDC program has pushed banks like Itaú into crypto services.

But with all this momentum, why is Brazil, along with much of Latin America, still lacking consistent, in-depth media coverage of these shifts? As recently highlighted by Outset PR, the region’s crypto media landscape is thinning at the very moment it’s needed most.

Outset PR report: Media isn’t keeping pace

The media ecosystem communicating these developments is shrinking, despite a thriving crypto economy. Outset PR’s Q1 2025 media-audit report reveals a sharp disconnect: despite clear signs of strong user interest, Latin America’s crypto news outlets aren't performing well.

In the first quarter, only a handful of crypto sites managed growth while 73% of active crypto media lost traffic. 

January’s Bitcoin rally brought a short-term boost in crypto coverage on mainstream finance outlets, but niche crypto news sites and blogs suffered as market momentum shifted.

By February, only 12 crypto outlets saw traffic growth, while the majority lost visibility due to market downturns and early algorithmic shifts. Google’s March core update then shuffled rankings further. Only about half of the 55 monitored outlets recaptured traffic by March. Outset PR tracked a steep and uneven recovery, with many outlets failing to regain January traffic levels.

Six sites dominate a shrinking ecosystem

In practical terms, Outset PR highlights that Latin American crypto media are highly concentrated and exclusive. There are just six top publishers that accounted for around 69% of all visits to crypto-focused outlets in Q1.

Despite such a large market share concentrated across a small handful of players, none of these niche sites averaged more than 1 million monthly visits. The rest of the field is fragmented: many crypto outlets in the region struggle to reach even 10,000 visits per month, with the lowest tier capturing just 8% of total traffic.

Several previously recognized sites, such as bitcoinmexico.net and latamblockchain.com, are now defunct, dormant, or largely irrelevant, according to the report.

Mainstream media overshadows crypto-native press

Adoption is surging, but discoverability isn’t. In Brazil, most web users learn about crypto from large general-media brands (Ámbito Financiero, InfoMoney, iProfesional, El Diario, Valor Econômico, etc.) rather than pure-crypto outlets. These legacy outlets cover crypto on occasion and often gear content to market hype.

Their editorial focus can spike PR impressions during bull runs, but they offer no guarantee of engaged crypto readers or evergreen visibility.

Outset PR’s data suggest that relying on broad “LATAM” press packages without context can backfire. Budgets get spent on clicks that vanish once Google’s algorithm changes or interest drops.

Strategy must evolve with the market

For crypto brands in Brazil and Latin America, the takeaway is clear: do not equate adoption with media reach. Campaigns must target the right mix of outlets – the few niche sites that actually have crypto-savvy audiences, plus mainstream portals at critical moments, such as around big regulatory or price news.

And they must continuously update their playbook: Outset PR stresses using real traffic and search analytics—not just clippings or old rankings.

In short, while Brazil’s crypto narrative is vibrant on the ground, PR teams need data-driven media strategies to ensure the message doesn’t get lost in a crowded and volatile landscape. 

The region’s next challenge for the industry isn’t building a viable crypto ecosystem, it’s being seen.