A majority of press releases published across crypto news sites originate from high-risk or outright fraudulent projects.
In a new report, crypto communications firm Chainstory analyzed 2,893 crypto press releases published between June 16 and November 1, 2025, and found that roughly 62% were issued by projects classified as either High Risk or confirmed Scams, based on indicators such as anonymous teams, unrealistic return claims, and cross-referencing with legal and consumer scam databases.
Low-Impact Updates
Crypto-specific press release “wires” operate on a pay-to-play model that allows projects to buy guaranteed placement across partner media sites, and, in the process, bypass traditional editorial judgment. Unlike legacy wire services that distribute releases for journalists to evaluate, many crypto wires sell direct publication to audiences with minimal compliance checks. This effectively turns article placement into a paid commodity.
Chainstory said that any crypto project with sufficient budget can secure visibility on recognizable news domains regardless of credibility.
The analysis revealed that most wire content consists of low-impact announcements that would typically be ignored by newsroom editors. Nearly half of all releases, or 49%, focused on routine product or feature updates, while another 24% covered exchange listings and trading promotions. Token launches and tokenomics changes accounted for 14% of releases.
On the other hand, only 58 releases, approximately 2% of the dataset, related to traditionally newsworthy events such as venture funding rounds, mergers and acquisitions, or major corporate finance activity.
Promotional Hype Dominates Crypto Wire
Chainstory also examined tone and language, finding that promotional framing dominates crypto press releases. Only around 10% were written in a neutral, factual style, while approximately 54% were categorized as “overstated” and another 19% as overtly promotional. The report observed that superlative-heavy language common in marketing copy remains unchallenged in paid releases, even when similar claims would be edited or questioned in reported journalism.
Risk profiling of issuers revealed a heavy skew toward questionable projects. High-risk issuers accounted for 35.6% of all releases, while confirmed scams made up 26.9%. Low-risk, established projects were responsible for only about 27% of press releases, which indicates that more credible firms rely less on paid distribution and are more likely to receive organic coverage. In sectors such as cloud mining, almost 90% of press releases came from projects flagged as high risk or scams.
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