Crypto news outlet Cointelegraph is seeking a buyer after a steep drop in website traffic, according to a person familiar with the matter. The situation highlights the growing pressure on crypto-focused media companies as search-driven traffic weakens across the industry.

The company has not disclosed a potential sale price Cointelegraph did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but the outlet later said on X that it was "not for sale." The conflicting accounts leave open questions about the company's ownership plans.

Cointelegraph's traffic has been hit particularly hard by changes to its visibility on Google. According to reports, the site suffered an estimated 80% decline in organic traffic after Google imposed a manual penalty in October 2025, a measure that caused the website to disappear from search results. Manual penalties are applied by Google when a site is found to violate its search guidelines and can remove a domain from search results entirely. Unlike routine algorithm updates, resolving a manual action typically requires a publisher to fix the underlying violations and pass a Google review before search visibility can be restored. Such ranking actions have affected traffic at numerous news publishers in recent years.

Data from web analytics firm Similarweb, cited by sources, showed Cointelegraph received more than 12 million monthly visits in December 2024. By Sept. 1, 2026, monthly traffic had fallen to just above 700,000 — a decline of more than 90%. Visibility at that scale matters commercially, since organic search is typically among a news publisher's largest traffic sources and underpins its advertising and sponsorship relationships.

The downturn also follows a prolonged period of relatively flat cryptocurrency prices, which has reduced user attention across parts of the digital-asset media sector. The combination of a search penalty and softer reader engagement has intensified pressure on outlets that rely on both search visibility and an actively engaged crypto audience.

Founded in 2013, Cointelegraph has more than 200 employees and has expanded beyond news coverage into research, events, and regional operations. Its MENA franchise, covering the Middle East and North Africa, was acquired by Luna Media Corporation in July 2022 as part of efforts to fund international expansion.

The potential sale underscores a broader challenge for crypto media, where audiences built largely around search traffic can become vulnerable when changes to search algorithms, platform policies, or market interest sharply reduce visibility and readership. How the situation develops — whether Cointelegraph regains its search standing and how the questions around its ownership are resolved — is likely to be watched across an industry facing the same platform-dependence dynamics.