Crypto News Consumers Largely Rely on Social Media, Buterin Ditches Twitter for Farcaster

In the fast-moving world of cryptocurrencies, social media has become the main source of information for crypto news consumers. 84% of crypto enthusiasts rely on Twitter, Telegram and YouTube for their updates, per a CoinGecko survey.

In the fast-moving world of cryptocurrencies, social media has become the main source of information for crypto news consumers. 84% of crypto enthusiasts rely on X (formerly Twitter), Telegram and YouTube for their updates, per a CoinGecko survey.

This heavy reliance on social media platforms has its share of risks. It also exposes the market to increasing risks, as recent episodes of misinformation have proved.

Crypto News Consumers Largely Rely on Social Media

According to the Coingecko survey from August 22, 41.7% of users prefer X, followed by Telegram at 21.5% and YouTube at 20.8%.

These platforms collectively dominate the crypto information landscape for crypto communities. They far surpass other channels like Discord and Reddit, which account for 6.8% and 4.5% of users, respectively. Despite its innovative and decentralized approach, Farcaster is the choice of only 1.3% of respondents.

Similar to how consumers are increasingly relying on social media to shape market views and trends, the survey also highlights issues with information accuracy and trust.

Social Media Misinformation Causes Fallout

An event in October 2023 exposed the perils of false information. Cointelegraph, a leading cryptocurrency news publication, erroneously reported on X that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had given the green light to a Bitcoin Spot ETF.

The false report caused Bitcoin’s price to rise sharply. This led to increased levels of trading that subsequently triggered more than $71m worth of leveraged positions being liquidated.

After Cointelegraph apologized and resolved the mistake, the price of Bitcoin dropped, resulting in heavy losses for those who had traded on the inaccurate information. Futures and options markets saw a waning interest in bullish Bitcoin positions.

This just goes to show the volatile nature of the market, one in which news, whether it is true or not, has the power to cause price chaos and potential losses for investors.

Vitalik Buterin Ditches X for Farcaster

Also adding noise to the discussion is the March 2024 controversy around Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin switching from X to Farcaster.

Elon Musk and other personalities within the crypto world were skeptical of the move Buterin made, jumping from X, where he had a massive following of 5.2 million, to Farcaster, which only had about 180,000 followers at that time.

Vitalik needs to get back on X. Farcaster isn’t going to win the culture war. If he wants Ethereum to shine he should engage more on this platform, not sequester himself with his chosen peers on an island. He will have far more impact if he engages the bigger community here.

However, many felt that he would have more impact on X than Farcaster. The decision to leave X was partly motivated by increased bot activity and a security compromise that put user safety at risk.

this is (part of) why I do most of my tweeting on farcaster these dayssrry 4 ratio-ing

The above is the detailed content of Crypto News Consumers Largely Rely on Social Media, Buterin Ditches Twitter for Farcaster. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!