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Behind the Scenes: CoinMinutes' Commitment to Source Verification

Have you ever come across a cryptocurrency news headline that looked like it was too good to be true? I have as well. The reason is that lies are rapidly spreading in the crypto world. The value of one cryptocurrency can go up or down drastically within a very short time just because of a single tweet.

We are not like that at CoinMinutes. We do the truth check. Totally. Partly done? Yep. Trustworthy? Definitely.

This article is revealing the method of truth verification that we utilize before it reaches your end. Purely our method, no exaggerations.

The Challenges of Misinformation in the Crypto Industry

Honestly, crypto news is just all over the place.

Some people spread false news deliberately to raise the prices. To name just one instance from the previous year, a rumor about a merger led to the rise of a token by 40% after which it went down rapidly. A lot of people got their money knocked.

Moreover, there is also the issue of the "relative of my friend who works in Exchange X" type of information. Unidentified "insiders" use platforms like Reddit or Twitter to aid in the distribution of their "hot tips." By the time someone verifies their truth, the markets have already responded.

Besides, crypto is still a complex subject, but people simplify it too much. There are a lot of misconceptions about Bitcoin and the blockchain held by average people that they are one and the same. (They are not.)

The things I am telling you are not only my thoughts – a study by the University of Cambridge proved that 64% of crypto news articles had at least one major error in 2023. That's a huge number!

I am one of the many people who suffered from reading misinformation. "One day I saw a really astonishing announcement on a different website, so I bought the token immediately without checking the news somewhere else. The news was completely fake, and I lost 20% of the value at night. I won't ever do it again," – said Sara, one of our readers.

CoinMinutes' Philosophy on Source Verification

Here's how we think about verification at CoinMinutes Crypto:

First, we don't just repeat what others say. Each fact needs confirmation from at least two reliable sources. Old-school journalism basics, but surprisingly rare in crypto media.

We rank sources based on their track record. Is this person or organization usually right? Do they have actual expertise? Might they have reasons to lie? Sources get a grade from A (super reliable) to D (handle with extreme caution).

We clearly separate facts from opinions. When someone's just sharing their take, we label it as such.

And here's the big one – we're not afraid to say "we don't know yet." Sometimes information can't be fully verified. When that happens, we tell you.

Mark Chen, our Editor-in-Chief, puts it simply: "We'd rather be second with the truth than first with a lie."

The Source Verification Process at CoinMinutes

How do we really check the facts? We use three steps.

First, writers check out the truth of the claims by basing them on primary sources – the original documents, blockchain data, company filings, or direct quotes. If there is no proof, the news won't be published.

Next, editors do the key facts independently verification. They merely do not believe the writer completely and as such, they check for themselves. Furthermore, they also evaluate each source for how reliable it is.

For technical or complex claims, we employ specialists. For instance, if the article is about a new consensus method, a blockchain engineer would be the one to check it out for accuracy.

We are very cautious about anonymous sources. What we require is:

1. At least two different sources to confirm the information

2. The anonymous source has been right before

3. A good reason why they must stay anonymous

4. Top editor's approval

I won't lie to you – sometimes this slows us down. We are not usually the first ones to publish breaking news. But we are much less likely to release a false report.

Useful Reference: https://gettr.com/user/coinminutes

Transparency in Reporting and Source Disclosure

It's not only that we verify the info; we let you see the steps of our work.

Any article from CoinMinutes is supposed to have links to the sources if there is any. You can always follow the links and have the original information right in front of you.

We show the ratings of source reliability right in the article. Along with the letter grade A-D for each major source, you will get an idea of how much trust you can put into it.

When we work with numbers, we tell exactly how we did it in a very simple language. There is no concealing behind the use of general terms like "studies show" or "experts agree".

Moreover, if there is something that is still ambiguous, we indicate it clearly by using such terms as "reportedly" or "according to unverified sources".

Also, if the writer of the article happens to be the holder of tokens, which he is writing about, then this information is right at the top of the disclosure.

Michael, a regular reader, who I shared the information with, said he really likes the way we do it: "i think it is good that i can check the original source of coinminutes articles by myself. It is much more empowering and I am much more comfortable instead of taking them at their words."

Training and Continuous Improvement

Getting verification right takes practice. Here's how we stay sharp:

New writers go through fact-checking boot camp. They learn how to assess sources, verify claims, and spot common types of misinformation.

We run monthly workshops on verification challenges. Recently we covered how to spot AI-generated fake content – a growing problem in crypto news.

We randomly audit published articles to make sure standards aren't slipping. Nobody gets a pass.

When we mess up (and yes, it happens), we analyze why and fix our process.

Does all this work? Seems like it. Independent audits found CoinMinutes had a 97.3% factual accuracy rate last year. The average for crypto media was just 82.1%. That's a big difference when you're making financial decisions based on what you read.

Real-World Examples of Source Verification at Work

Let me show you how this plays out in the real world:

Last spring, rumors hit Twitter that a major protocol was delaying its upgrade by six months. Most sites ran with the story immediately. Our team contacted core developers directly and found the delay was only six weeks, not six months. Big difference! While others spread panic, we published the accurate timeline.

During the summer "hack season," social media lit up with reports of a $30 million exploit at a DeFi protocol. Our writers didn't just repeat the claim – they analyzed the blockchain transactions directly. Turned out the actual amount was $3 million. Still bad, but way less catastrophic than reported elsewhere.

My favorite example: A press release announced a partnership between a payment company and a major blockchain. Sounded huge. But instead of just publishing it, we called both companies to confirm. The blockchain team had no idea what we were talking about – the whole thing was fake. Our extra verification step prevented readers from buying tokens based on false information.

Lisa, one of our reporters, told me about the aftermath: "After we debunked that fake partnership story, I got messages from readers thanking us for saving them from making a bad investment. That's when I really understood why verification matters."

Engaging the Community in the Verification Process

We don't just verify things ourselves – we get readers involved too.

Every article has a "Verify This" button. Spot something fishy? Click it. That flags the claim for review by our team.

Readers who consistently help improve our accuracy get recognized through our community verification program. Some of our best fact-checkers started as readers who spotted errors.

We publish quarterly reports showing our verification stats – how many errors we caught before publishing, how many slipped through, and how quickly we fixed them.

We even run online workshops teaching readers how to spot misinformation themselves. Because honestly, everyone should know how to verify crypto claims, not just journalists.

This community approach works really well. Last year, reader input caught seven significant factual issues that our internal process missed. That's seven potential mistakes that didn't mislead our audience, thanks to engaged readers.

CoinMinutes' Pledge for the Future

What's next for verification at CoinMinutes?

We're building an open-source verification toolkit that other crypto publications can use. Better information helps everyone, not just our readers.

We're expanding our source network to include more diverse voices. Too much crypto news relies on the same small group of industry insiders.

We're working on ways to verify breaking news faster without cutting corners on accuracy. Speed matters, but not at the expense of truth.

When full verification isn't possible, we'll be even clearer about what remains uncertain. Transparency about limitations builds trust.

And we're making it easier for readers to help with verification through new community features.

"Verification isn't just about avoiding errors," says our founder Alex Rivera. "It's about building something better than the rumor mill that dominates crypto information today."

 

Find More Information: Investigative Crypto Journalism: CoinMinutes’ Approach to Uncovering What Projects Don’t Tell You

Conclusion

Misinformation is detrimental to crypto. False claims mislead investors and lower their trust level with the entire space.

Certainly, we at CoinMinutes are against this by our verification effort only. Our triple action, openness attitudes, continuous training, and the involvement of the community form a reliable information enclave in the middle of the ocean of uncertainty.

We enable our users to learn and also carry out their own checks by sharing our work openly. This method establishes trust and fosters better information literacy among the crypto community.

Crypto can only succeed with accurate information. Through consistent and unglamorous verification work, CoinMinutes makes this possible.