Silence isn't always golden in crypto

There is a lot to say about silence: a new book about the topic is 720 pages long.

In Oxford University professor Kate McLoughlin's "Silence: A Literary History," she explores how silence is weaponized, managed, or deployed for specific outcomes across 1,200 years of literature.

She could have easily written the same thing about some present day troubled crypto platforms and their bungling of silence:

1) Crypto exchange AscendEX began freezing user withdrawals in late June and didn't notify affected users. Days later, the company announced it was shutting down, locking users out of funds indefinitely.

2) $3.665M was stolen from corporate wallets of ATM operator Bitcoin Depot from March 20–23, 2026. It wasn't disclosed until their mandatory SEC 8-K on April 8th. The stock was delisted on NASDAQ and they filed for Chapter 11 one month later.

3) BitMart began an "orderly wind-down" last month, breaking their promise that "Withdrawal services will remain available." One customer with $10.1 million on the platform posted publicly, "WHERE IS OUR MONEY?" which drew over 150,000 views. The company stonewalled for two full weeks until finally breaking the silence: "We have not disappeared, nor will we."

I know, I know. You want to say "What do you expect from crypto?" 

Allow me to show you Exhibit B: Frontier Airlines waiting three weeks to reveal their data breach in June, Yum Brands/Taco Bell saying nothing for 12 days about a cyclospora outbreak in Michigan, and Suno's huge data breach last November, remaining silent until they were confronted by journalists in July.

While there are times it is valid to hold your tongue (see my Fast Company article "The Three Laws Of Shutting Up,"), not one of all these companies should take good sound communications counsel for granted.

Management learns to say the right things, turn it around quicker, and prepare in advance.

Regardless of industry.