Crypto media has a conflicts-of-interest problem that traditional financial journalism largely solved decades ago. Outlets take advisory tokens from projects they cover, exchanges buy favourable coverage through advertising arrangements dressed up as editorial partnerships, and writers trade the assets they write about without disclosure. This policy exists to put OBOL on record about where we stand on all of it, so readers don't have to guess.
Independence and conflicts
OBOL staff are prohibited from holding direct positions in any digital asset, protocol token or equity of a company they cover, report on, or are likely to report on. This applies to reporters, editors and contributing analysts alike. Any pre-existing holdings must be disclosed to the managing editor and are published alongside relevant bylines where a conflict could reasonably be perceived. We do not accept free tokens, airdrops solicited for coverage, conference travel paid for by a subject of our reporting, or advisory board seats at projects within our beat.
Sourcing and verification
We require two independent sources for claims that can't be verified on-chain or in primary documents, and one strong primary source — a filing, an audit, a block explorer record — where independent corroboration isn't available. Anonymous sources are used sparingly and only when a source faces genuine professional or safety risk from attribution; the reasoning for granting anonymity is reviewed by an editor before publication, not left to the reporter's judgement alone.
Advertising and sponsored content
Advertising is sold separately from editorial coverage, by a commercial team with no input into story selection, framing or timing. Any sponsored content is labelled as such in the headline and byline area, uses a visually distinct template from staff journalism, and is never written or edited by the newsroom. No advertiser has ever seen a news story before publication, and none ever will.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we say so. Factual errors are corrected as soon as they're verified, with a visible correction note appended to the article stating what changed and when. Material errors — the kind that would change a reader's understanding of a story, not typos — are also noted at the top of the piece. We don't quietly edit published articles to erase mistakes.
Right of reply
Individuals or organisations named critically in an OBOL story are given a reasonable opportunity to respond before publication wherever possible, and their response is reflected in the piece rather than appended as an afterthought. Where a subject declines to comment, we say so explicitly.
Reporting concerns
If you believe an OBOL story breaches this policy, or you have a conflict-of-interest concern about a byline, write to [email protected]. Complaints are reviewed by an editor not involved in the original story, and we aim to respond within five working days.
Last updated 10 July 2026