Today’s traditional media landscape certainly paints an interesting picture of Web3, specifically what’s happening in the crypto and digital collectibles sector. Whether the wide variance in coverage stems from private business and/or political alignments, there is an apparent gap between the types of coverage provided by mainstream media and that of Web3 native outlets.

Recent news surrounding the Paxos-BUSD drama has generated some interesting news headlines that would lead consumers to believe that the leading stablecoin issuer had simply decided “to stop issuing” the Binance token.

However, these headlines were later edited to reflect what was actually happening — that it had been ordered to stop the issuance by regulators.

Very few media publishers took that extra step to share Paxos’ firm stance on the matter — that it “categorically disagrees with the SEC staff because BUSD is not a security under the federal securities laws.”

“The SEC Wells notice pertains only to BUSD. To be clear, there are unequivocally no other allegations against Paxos. Paxos has always prioritized the safety of its customers’ assets. BUSD issued by Paxos is always backed 1:1 with US dollar-denominated reserves, fully segregated and held in bankruptcy remote accounts. We will engage with the SEC staff on this issue and are prepared to vigorously litigate if necessary,” the company shared in a statement.

Additionally, Paxos has expressed its commitment to the ongoing development of stablecoins and that it will continue to manage all outstanding BUSD reserves.

END/ Paxos remains dedicated to the development of stablecoins, tokenization & #blockchain technology. We’ll continue serving the world’s most respected and established companies to create a more open financial system.

— Paxos (@PaxosGlobal) February 13, 2023

The coverage of Paxos by mainstream media isn’t the first time outlets have favored regulators, where the recent verdict in the landmark Hermes/MetaBirkins case was misinterpreted by several outlets to read that the “jurors had decided that NFTs are not art.”

In reality, the verdict simply communicated that under the facts and arguments presented, the jury did not believe that Rothschild’s NFT collection warranted protection under the First Amendment as an “artistic expression” that would allow for a fair use defense.

Unfortunately, mainstream media has earned itself the stripes of misleading consumers as to the “happy medium” of what is really happening in the world. It’s for this reason that Web3 native outlets have the opportunity to create a new standard for how news in the space is covered, as it is crucial for consumers and investors to have an accurate portrayal of what this space stands for and the underlying technology that will eventually carry it forward.

Right now, the chaos taking place between regulatory agencies when it comes to clearly defining asset classes, is a net good for the space and deserves the utmost diligence and competent coverage. Otherwise, how can you promote mass adoption and acceptance when today’s leading media publishers are the one’s contributing to the significant gap in facts and understanding?

In other news, SEC Commissioner calls out her own agency over the shutdown of the Kraken staking program.