In this article 6 sections
In 2017 the mainstream press's word for bitcoin was "bubble".
We counted 408 bitcoin headlines with the word in 116 mainstream and financial outlets that covered bitcoin in both 2017 and 2026.
This year, through October 24, those outlets have run 16.
Their word now is "crash", with 330 headlines this year against 155 in 2017.
Calling bitcoin a bubble meant it had no value underneath.
Calling a fall a crash assumes the asset survives it, the way the S&P 500 survived 2008.
By switching words, these newsrooms conceded the argument they made in 2017.
They conceded it in their headlines.
The audience these outlets reach, allocators and regulators included, now reads about bitcoin as an asset that rises and falls.
The concession
In 2017 these outlets ran 632 bitcoin headlines with words of doubt, such as bubble, scam, fraud or Ponzi.
They ran 505 that treated bitcoin as an investment, with ETFs, Wall Street, portfolios, retirement or institutions in the headline.
Since 2021 investment headlines have outnumbered doubt at least four to one.
This year it's 1,094 to 75.
These newsrooms now cover who owns bitcoin and how it trades.
The word swap
Bubble headlines dropped to 219 in 2018 and 41 in 2019.
Crash headlines passed them in 2019 and have led in every year since.
Reporters kept the drama and pointed it at the price.
Headlines with words like crash, plunge, tumble or bloodbath rose from 518 in 2017 to 781 this year.
Fewer big drops, more crash headlines
Bitcoin's annualized volatility fell from 84% in 2018 to 45% this year.
In 2018 it fell 81% from its high for the year, and these outlets ran 195 crash headlines.
This year the deepest fall from the year's high is 40%, and they have run 330.
For each day bitcoin dropped 5% or more, these outlets ran 4 crash headlines in 2018.
This year they ran more than 80.
The crash coverage grew while bitcoin's falls got smaller.
With the fraud story gone, price is the bitcoin story these outlets have left, and they tell it louder than the moves warrant.
Questions and forecasts
Of this year's 330 mainstream crash headlines, 152 ask a question or forecast more falls.
In 2017 it was 32 of 155.
Headlines with "crash" and a question mark went from 2 to 77.
For the industry
The industry spent a decade arguing that bitcoin is real.
In these 116 newsrooms that argument is settled.
The fight now is over how big a price move is, and companies whose value tracks bitcoin get pulled into that coverage.
Bitcoin treasury companies tie their story to the price, so they get the price coverage too.
On 118 news outlets, treasury-company headlines went from 0 in 2015, when those outlets ran 121 bitcoin headlines about drug markets, to 537 in 2025.
This year they have run 242.
This year reporters wrote 68 treasury headlines about selling or stress and 58 about buying or launching.
In 2025 buying led, 144 to 41.
In 2025 the press covered treasury companies as buyers.
This year it covers more of them as sellers under pressure.
For marketing, comms and PR teams
Stop spending your message on whether bitcoin is legitimate.
The mainstream press conceded that, and the question reporters bring you now is how bad the next drop will be while we're in this bear market.
Bring the calm numbers.
Reporters wrote more crash headlines as bitcoin's volatility fell from 84% in 2018 to 45% this year.
Put that number in front of a reporter on a down day.
Give reporters your view before they ask.
This year 46% of mainstream crash headlines ask a question or forecast more falls, and the forecasts carry names like Standard Chartered, Stifel and DWF Labs.
If you stay quiet, the reporter quotes someone else's price target.
If your company holds bitcoin, lead with what the bitcoin does for your business.
Selling headlines outnumber buying ones this year, so a purchase on its own gets less coverage.
We can run these counts for your company and your competitors, so you know which words reporters attach to you before the next drop.
Reply to this email, or read how we work with teams.
Fernando
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