A new report from Chainstory reveals that cryptocurrency press release distribution services have become a vehicle for dubious projects to evade third-party scrutiny and create the illusion of legitimacy.
Researchers reviewed 2,893 press releases sent between June and November last year. They found that more than 60% came from projects with “classic red flags,” such as anonymous teams making unrealistic claims, copy-pasting websites, and intimidating investors into aggressive tactics. Some were outright scams, confirmed as such through cross-referencing with blacklists and active scam alerts.
Unlike existing traditional distribution services, cryptocurrency-focused newswires often strike deals that guarantee placement on dozens of websites with little oversight. These paid ads often appear alongside the actual news, sometimes without clear labels, making it difficult for readers to tell the difference.
“If you stumble upon a cryptocurrency press release on a news website, there is a greater than 50/50 chance that the project behind it is of low (or worse) credibility,” the researchers wrote in a report released on Tuesday.
The team says that most of the published content is self-written marketing announcements about small product updates, token sales, or exchange listings. Only about 2% reported meaningful news, such as venture capital investment or acquisitions, the types of stories that typically receive editorial coverage.
CoinDesk contacted multiple media outlets, but none responded by press time.
Paid display
The core is the relationship between distribution services and websites. The telegrams served as conduits, charging to push content, while websites charged fees to display content without editorial filtering, the report said.
To the average reader, this may look like a report from a reputable outlet, although no reporters covered the story and the claims in the press release were unsubstantiated.
This strategy isn’t limited to startups. The researchers noted that major exchanges regularly issue press releases announcing the listing of each coin to create a sense of continued activity. There is no indication that the transactions involved wrongdoing.
However, this scattergun approach increases search engine visibility, clutters news feeds, and blurs the lines between reporting and promotion, while giving unproven or high-risk projects a veneer of unearned legitimacy.
“The core mechanism of the cryptocurrency press release industry is free riding,” the study said. “By funneling content through syndication networks, publishers avoid the ‘newsworthiness’ filter of newsrooms and instead rely on the credibility of the distribution platform.”
In one example in December, scammers used false branding to impersonate Circle Internet (CRCL), the issuer of the USDC stablecoin. The version promoted a fake tokenized metals platform and linked to a website that appeared to steal wallets. The news was debunked by CoinDesk, but only after appearing on multiple news sites.
While some news outlets have begun labeling or restricting press release content, the lack of clear standards and editorial filters remains a vulnerability in the crypto media ecosystem, the report said.
