At this point in the evolution of cryptocurrency, the news itself has become a cutthroat industry. Few sectors can claim to move as fast, or as frequently as cryptocurrency. On March’s Black Thursday, Bitcoin’s price plummeted by over 50% in a single day. Early in the hours of Saturday, September 26, KuCoin announced it had been hacked for $150 million. Decentralized finance tokens, currently crypto’s hottest craze, can rise and fall again in a matter of hours.
Keeping up with the breakneck news cycle has become extremely challenging for companies operating in the crypto news media. They need to employ teams of writers and reporters worldwide working on every time zone if they’re to compete with the established players. For that reason, a small handful of big players now have near-total dominance over the pure crypto news niche.
Therefore, the broad variety of information sources available on YouTube perhaps explains why the platform is an increasingly popular source of information for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Video is accessible, easy to digest, and engaging.
In the crypto space, several high-profile YouTubers conduct regular live streams to their audiences and have used their platform to create multi-channel brands known for the quality and quantity of their news and information output.
Boxmining
Established in 2017, Boxmining has grown to become one of the most-watched crypto channels on YouTube, with over 21 million views and 216,000 subscribers. The face of the channel is Michael Gu, who plays a somewhat unique role in the crypto space. He was educated in both the UK and Canada but now resides in Hong Kong. As such, he has a helicopter view of developments and news in the cryptocurrency sector, covering both the East and West.
The blockchain scene in China is blowing up, thanks to the Chinese government’s endorsement of the technology. Boxmining has provided in-depth coverage of developments, including the national Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) project, the Chinese central bank’s digital currency initiative. His coverage has also landed him on one of China’s most-watched television shows, “Tiger Talk” where he discussed the rise of DCEP and whether it would shake the US dollar’s hegemony.
Gu is also in a prime position to obtain airtime with leading crypto entrepreneurs, including Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Like many successful crypto YouTubers, Gu broadcasts regular live streams covering the latest news and developments — twice weekly in his case. These sessions are also interspersed with frequent uploads, including interviews, project reviews, and instructional videos. Boxmining also has an extensive website and a highly active Twitter account with over 101,000 subscribers.
Ivan on Tech
Like Michael Gu, Ivan Liljeqvist started his YouTube channel as a side gig, but with impeccable timing. As the crypto’s popularity exploded in 2017, Ivan on Tech became another of the most popular crypto YouTubers.
He has a developer background, having learned programming at an early age. In 2015 once Ethereum was released, he learned the Solidity programming language. The Ivan on Tech YouTube channel originally started as a show dedicated to general topics covering technology and coding. However, he quickly discovered that crypto videos were the most popular by far, and the rest is history. He now also shares his programming expertise in an online training academy to help developers learn how to build Ethereum and EOS applications.
Liljeqvist is prolific, broadcasting every single day from his home in Stockholm. Every morning, he covers a detailed roundup of all the cryptocurrency news, including analysis of price movements. Ivan on Tech has garnered 260,000 subscribers on YouTube and 80,000 Twitter followers.
The Crypto Lark
Lark Davis runs the YouTube channel The Crypto Lark, with close to 150,000 subscribers. Davis has grown his reputation to become the most popular investing and crypto personality in New Zealand.
Davis has a background in political science, which gives him a somewhat unique take on happenings in the cryptocurrency space. He’s known for taking a critical eye to projects and investments, along with educational videos helping beginners navigate the complex waters of crypto.
Like Ivan on Tech, The Crypto Lark broadcasts a daily live stream, covering breaking news, topical crypto content, and technical analysis. He’s also interviewed some of the biggest names in the sector, including Anthony Pompliano, co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital, and Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano and the co-founder of Ethereum.
These YouTubers are just a select few of the many others that have taken to video as a means of sharing information and expertise. However, they illustrate the medium’s value to the crypto news sphere and how users can diversify their sources beyond a small number of dominant outlets.
