How to Get Featured on Blockworks

What Blockworks Covers and Who Reads It

Blockworks was founded in New York in 2018 with a specific editorial thesis: that institutional finance was going to adopt digital assets, and that the media covering crypto was almost entirely built for retail audiences. The outlet has built its reputation by serving the other side of that market -- the allocators, portfolio managers, trading firms, and asset managers who need institutional-grade analysis rather than token price commentary.

The Blockworks readership is not the same person reading CoinDesk or scrolling Cointelegraph. It is a portfolio manager at a multi-strategy hedge fund evaluating whether to add a crypto sleeve. It is an allocator at a family office deciding which digital asset managers have the operational rigor to receive capital. It is a trading desk head at a prime broker tracking liquidity conditions in the derivatives market. These readers bring TradFi training and expectations to everything they read.

The outlet's flagship editorial property is its research and podcast network, which includes Blockworks Macro -- a franchise covering the intersection of macroeconomic conditions and digital asset markets. This TradFi lens shapes the entire editorial culture. Blockworks journalists consistently ask a version of the same question: how does this matter to a professional investor who is accountable to LPs and fiduciaries?

Blockworks also hosts two of the most influential institutional crypto conferences in the United States: Permissionless and Digital Asset Summit. These events draw the same professional audience its editorial covers, and the journalists who attend them are building their source networks from exactly that community. Getting covered in Blockworks often starts with being visible in those rooms.

How Blockworks Approaches a Story

Blockworks operates with what its journalists would describe as a financial journalism standard, not a crypto journalism standard. That distinction has practical implications for any pitch. Financial journalism requires verifiable data, named sources, and a clear connection to market-moving information. It is not interested in narratives that exist primarily to move a token price.

The outlet's reporters have well-developed skepticism about the kind of announcements that generate press release volume in the crypto space. Partnership announcements with no capital deployed, protocol launches with no real usage metrics, and funding rounds from unnamed or unverifiable investors all fail the Blockworks credibility threshold. These stories might run as brief news items in broader crypto outlets, but Blockworks journalists will not invest reporting time unless there is something substantive underneath.

Source credibility matters significantly at Blockworks. Journalists there want to speak with people who have institutional standing -- fund managers, compliance officers, former regulators, TradFi executives who have moved into digital assets. A founder who can speak about why a major asset manager chose their infrastructure is more useful to a Blockworks reporter than a founder making claims about their own technology. Getting a credible institutional counterparty to go on the record is often the difference between a story running and a pitch being declined.

Data requirements at Blockworks are specific. TVL figures need to be from a credible third-party source such as DeFiLlama. AUM claims need to be auditable or at least verifiable against on-chain data. Trading volumes need context -- gross notional without clarifying the time period or methodology raises flags immediately. Journalists there have seen enough misleading statistics in crypto that they approach any data point with the kind of scrutiny a financial reporter applies to a company's earnings release.

The Types of Stories Blockworks Runs

Understanding which stories Blockworks runs is more useful than understanding which ones it does not. The outlet has clear content pillars that reflect its institutional mandate.

Funding rounds with institutional co-investors get Blockworks attention when the investor names carry weight in traditional finance. A Series B with participation from a registered investment advisor, a sovereign wealth fund, or a major bank's venture arm is a Blockworks story. The same round with participation from anonymous DAOs or retail-facing launchpads is not.

Protocol TVL milestones and DeFi infrastructure developments land when they come with substantive data and a connection to institutional adoption. A DeFi lending protocol crossing a significant TVL threshold is a news item. The same protocol crossing that threshold because a group of institutional treasury managers has started using it for cash management is a Blockworks feature -- because it tells a story about professional capital allocation changing behavior.

Institutional product launches -- custody solutions, prime brokerage services, regulated funds, tokenized real-world assets -- are among the strongest story types for the outlet. Blackrock's BUIDL fund was a significant Blockworks story because it represented a major traditional asset manager making a tangible operational commitment to on-chain infrastructure. Any product launch that follows a similar logic has a genuine Blockworks angle.

Regulatory and compliance developments affecting institutional investors get consistent coverage. When the SEC issues guidance on crypto custody, when CFTC jurisdiction expands, when a major market structure bill moves through Congress -- these are Blockworks stories because they directly affect the compliance and legal frameworks that institutional allocators must navigate. A source who can speak credibly about the operational implications of a regulatory development for a fund's compliance function is the kind of source Blockworks reporters are looking for.

Macro and market structure analysis is a core Blockworks vertical. Stories that connect Bitcoin's correlation behavior to broader macro conditions, that analyze the structural impact of ETF flows on market liquidity, or that examine how crypto derivatives markets are maturing relative to traditional derivatives -- all fit the outlet's editorial identity.

What Blockworks Does Not Cover

Being clear about what Blockworks will not cover is as important as knowing what it will. The outlet has a defined editorial identity and its journalists enforce it consistently.

Retail token hype does not clear the editorial bar. A new token launch with a community-driven narrative and a whitepaper will not generate Blockworks interest unless it has a verifiable institutional dimension -- a licensed custodian, regulated distribution, or meaningful adoption by professional users. The same applies to memecoin coverage and to token price prediction content, which the outlet does not run as editorial.

NFT drops without an institutional angle are not a Blockworks story. The outlet did cover NFTs during the 2021 to 2022 cycle, but specifically through the lens of how institutional collectors, auction houses, and IP holders were engaging with the technology. A consumer NFT project with community enthusiasm and a Discord server is not positioned for Blockworks coverage regardless of mint volume.

Community governance votes without TradFi relevance do not get covered. DAO governance is a significant part of the DeFi landscape but it rarely produces Blockworks stories unless the governance decision has direct implications for institutional capital -- a liquidity mining change that affects how professional market makers deploy capital, or a risk parameter adjustment to a lending protocol that institutional treasury managers are using.

Broad technology announcements without market or financial implications are also largely outside the Blockworks mandate. A new consensus mechanism, a novel cryptographic approach, or a developer tooling launch may be significant technical news, but Blockworks is not a developer-focused outlet. Unless the technology has a clear near-term impact on institutional market structure, it is better positioned at The Block, Decrypt, or a developer-focused publication.

How to Pitch Blockworks Journalists

The most reliable approach to a Blockworks pitch starts with reporter research. The outlet's journalist roster has distinct beats -- some reporters focus on macro and market structure, others on DeFi protocols, others on regulatory affairs or institutional products. A pitch that ignores the reporter's actual beat and sends a generic story to a general inbox has very low conversion. Blockworks reporters are active on X and publish consistently enough that anyone investing time in a serious pitch can identify which reporter is most relevant within a few minutes of research.

Lead with data. A Blockworks pitch that opens with a data point -- a verifiable TVL figure, an AUM number with a third-party source, a trading volume figure with methodology -- immediately signals that the story is grounded. A pitch that opens with adjectives about how transformative or revolutionary a product is will not generate a response. The outlet's readers are professional investors who read balance sheets and due diligence reports. Its journalists share that orientation.

Embargo discipline is non-negotiable. Blockworks journalists take embargoes seriously. If you offer an exclusive or an embargo, holding that commitment is essential to building a working relationship. Releasing to other outlets before the embargo expires, even inadvertently through a wire service, damages the relationship significantly. For any story with genuine institutional news value, a well-structured exclusive offer to a specific Blockworks reporter is a viable approach. The story needs to be genuinely exclusive -- a story going to 40 journalists simultaneously with an "exclusive" label in the subject line will not be treated as one.

Keep the pitch short and factual. Three to four sentences explaining the news, one sentence on why it matters to institutional allocators, and a clear offer -- whether that is a briefing, a data package, or an on-record source who can speak to the institutional implications. Blockworks journalists are not looking for a full narrative framework delivered via email. They are looking for enough information to determine whether there is a story worth investigating.

Blockworks vs CoinDesk vs The Block: Which Outlet for Which Story

These three outlets are often treated as interchangeable by communications teams that do not know the crypto media landscape well. They are not interchangeable. Each has a distinct editorial identity, audience profile, and story threshold.

Blockworks, as described throughout this guide, skews heavily institutional. Its primary audience is professional allocators and finance industry participants. The editorial lens is consistently about how digital assets interact with traditional finance, regulatory frameworks, and institutional market structure. A story at Blockworks carries a signal that it is relevant to professional investors.

CoinDesk is a broader publication with a larger audience that spans retail investors, developers, entrepreneurs, and institutional readers. It covers a much wider range of stories -- from protocol development and governance to market prices and token launches -- and its editorial standards reflect that breadth. A story that would not meet Blockworks' institutional threshold can often find a home at CoinDesk, particularly in its technology or policy coverage. For a company at an early stage that does not yet have institutional co-investors or significant TVL, CoinDesk is usually the more appropriate first target. For institutional narrative building at a later stage, Blockworks offers a more precise audience signal.

The Block occupies a third position. It is primarily a research and news organization focused on data, on-chain analytics, and rigorous reporting. The Block's journalism is more research-intensive than either Blockworks or CoinDesk, and it tends toward longer, more analytical pieces. Its audience includes both institutional investors and sophisticated retail participants who want primary-source analysis. Stories with strong data provenance, significant on-chain evidence, or complex technical dimensions are well-suited to The Block. It is a natural target for protocol teams with detailed technical metrics and for stories where the data itself is the news.

A well-constructed media strategy for an institutional crypto company typically sequences across all three. The Block may run a data-driven analysis of protocol metrics. CoinDesk covers a product launch. Blockworks covers the institutional adoption story that follows six months later when a recognizable fund has allocated to the product. Treating these as competing targets rather than complementary ones is a missed opportunity. For a broader view of how to position crypto PR across media tiers, our blockchain PR agency guide and crypto PR agency guide cover the full media landscape in detail.

Blockworks coverage is not the first stop for most crypto companies building their media presence. It is typically the right stop for companies that have already established a record in crypto-native press and are ready to address an institutional audience directly. The outlet rewards patience and preparation: a story pitched too early, before there are institutional co-investors or meaningful on-chain metrics to anchor it, will simply not find traction. The same story pitched twelve months later, with a named institutional allocator and a verifiable data package, is a genuine Blockworks pitch.

At Quorum Media, our crypto and web3 PR practice covers the full institutional media spectrum -- from early-stage trade press to Blockworks, Bloomberg, and Reuters. Talk to us about where your story fits.

Common Questions About Getting Featured on Blockworks

What types of stories does Blockworks cover?

Blockworks covers institutional digital asset markets, crypto regulation, decentralised finance from a professional investor perspective, exchange and custody infrastructure, and the intersection of traditional finance with digital assets. It focuses on stories that are material to professional allocators and finance industry participants rather than retail investors or developers. Protocol launches, on-chain metrics, and technology explanations without a clear institutional implication are generally outside its editorial scope.

Who is Blockworks' primary audience?

Blockworks primarily reaches institutional investors, hedge fund managers, asset allocators, venture capital professionals, and senior operators at crypto-native financial firms. It is not primarily a retail investor or developer publication. Its events franchise -- Blockworks' Digital Asset Summit and related conferences -- draws a professional finance audience that reflects the same institutional profile as its editorial readership. A company whose story only matters to retail token holders is unlikely to find a natural home in Blockworks editorial.

How do Blockworks journalists prefer to be pitched?

Direct, factual, and brief. Blockworks journalists are covering markets with a professional investor readership and do not need a narrative constructed for them. A pitch should state the news clearly in the first sentence, name the institutional significance in the second, and offer a briefing or on-record source in the third. Unsolicited story frameworks, promotional language, and pitches that lead with company background rather than news value are counterproductive. The best pitches give a journalist enough to decide quickly whether there is a story worth pursuing.

What makes a crypto story strong enough for Blockworks?

Verifiable institutional validation is the most reliable signal. Named institutional co-investors, significant total value locked with on-chain provenance, documented regulatory engagement, or a formal relationship with a traditional financial institution are the kinds of anchors that give a Blockworks pitch credibility. Projections, roadmap announcements, and claims that are not yet backed by verifiable on-chain or institutional evidence are unlikely to meet the publication's editorial threshold regardless of how compelling they are in other contexts.

Is Blockworks focused only on institutional crypto, or does it cover retail too?

Blockworks is primarily institutional in its editorial focus, but its coverage does extend to topics with broad market implications that affect retail participants -- major regulatory developments, exchange failures, significant on-chain events, and macroeconomic factors influencing digital asset markets. The distinction is editorial framing rather than strict audience gatekeeping. A story about a protocol's retail adoption metrics, framed in terms of what it signals about institutional readiness, is a stronger Blockworks pitch than the same story framed as growth in the retail user base.