A new report from Chainstory reveals that crypto press release distribution services have become a go-to channel for questionable projects seeking to bypass third-party scrutiny. Researchers reviewed 2,893 press releases published between June and November 2025 and found that more than 60% originated from projects displaying “classic red flags” — anonymous teams, unverifiable high-yield promises, copy-paste websites, and aggressive scare-tactics to push investors into action. Some releases were confirmed as outright scams after cross-referencing with blacklists and active scam alerts.
Anonymous Teams and Unrealistic Claims: The Red Flag Indicators
“If you stumble upon a crypto press release on a news site, odds are better than 50/50 that the project behind it is of low credibility (or worse),” the researchers wrote in Tuesday's report. The vast majority of releases were self-authored marketing announcements about minor product updates, token sales, or exchange listings. Only about 2% covered genuinely newsworthy events such as venture funding or acquisitions — the kind of stories that would normally earn editorial coverage.
Unlike traditional distribution services, crypto-focused press wires often have deals that guarantee placement on dozens of websites with little oversight. These paid placements appear alongside actual news, sometimes without clear labeling, making it difficult for readers to distinguish between credible reporting and paid promotion.
Pay to Display: How the Press Release Pipeline Works
At the heart of the issue is the relationship between distribution services and publisher sites. Wires act as pipelines, pushing out content for a fee, while sites charge to display it without editorial filtering, according to the report. To a casual reader, the content may resemble coverage from reputable media outlets — even though no journalist reported the story and the claims within are unverified.
This tactic is not limited to startups. Major exchanges also regularly push press releases announcing each token listing to create a sense of constant activity, the research noted. While the authors do not suggest those exchanges are involved in wrongdoing, the “scattergun” approach boosts search engine visibility, clutters news feeds, and blurs the line between reporting and promotion, granting unearned legitimacy to unproven or high-risk projects.
“The core mechanism of the crypto press release industry is piggybacking,” the study stated. “By funneling content through syndication networks, issuers avoid the ‘newsworthiness’ filter of a newsroom and instead rely on the credibility of the distribution platform.”
Fake Brand Impersonation: Press Release Platforms as a Scam Enabler
A December 2025 example illustrates the risk: scammers used counterfeit branding to impersonate Circle Internet (issuer of the USDC stablecoin) and promoted a fake tokenized metals platform linked to a wallet-draining site. The release was debunked by CoinDesk, but only after it had appeared on multiple news sites. While some news outlets have started labeling or limiting press release content, the report concludes that the lack of clear standards and editorial filters remains a vulnerability in the crypto media ecosystem.