The New Crypto On-Ramp -- and It Is Picking Winners. 5W Crypto Trust Index 2026 Scores 25 Brands by How AI Treats Them.

The 5W Crypto Trust Index 2026 examines how major AI engines respond when a first-time buyer asks whether crypto brands are safe, and finds that engines do not provide neutral answers. The research released July 2, 2026 by 5W analyzed 60+ prompts across six question types, run five times on ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, and evaluated responses covering 25 exchanges and brands. According to the study, AI engines recommend, hedge, or warn, with no “neutral” tier. The top five brands most often recommended were Coinbase (Trust Score 94), Kraken (87), Fidelity Crypto (82), Gemini (77) and Bitwise (73). Brands most often warned against included FTX (3), Terra/Luna (4), Voyager (5), Celsius (6) and Pump.fun (11). Binance ranked 12th with a Trust Score of 47, with engines citing its scale while hedging on past regulatory settlements.