Analysis
A PR firm studied 2,893 crypto press releases and found 62% came from high-risk or scam projects. The numbers are self-reported. The mechanism they describe is not.
Legitimacy in digital assets is often a manufactured commodity. It is a product sold by the yard, distributed via wire services, and consumed by trading bots and retail investors alike. To understand the mechanics, look at a recent report titled Manufactured Legitimacy. Chainstory, the firm behind this study, is a crypto PR agency. While they analyze the industry they inhabit, their data provides a rare look under the hood of the crypto news machine.
Between June 16 and November 1, 2025, Chainstory tracked 2,893 crypto press releases. The findings are revealing. Only 58 of those releases, or roughly 2%, dealt with substantive events like funding rounds, mergers, or deep research. The rest were noise: 49% focused on product features, 24% on trading or exchange listings, and 14% on token launches. Using an AI-based sentiment and risk analysis tool cross-referenced against blacklists, the firm classified 62% of these releases as either High Risk or Scam. This risk classification is self-reported methodology and has not been independently audited.
The structural genius of this system lies in what we might call the false hierarchy. Crypto wire services offer packages that guarantee placement across hundreds of websites. By separating these press release sections from clearly marked sponsored content, the system strips away the commercial warning. The result is paid content that mimics legitimate news. Projects then use these placements to populate “As Seen On” sections on their websites, featuring logos from reputable outlets like Yahoo Finance or MarketWatch. It is a feedback loop of credibility where the appearance of news becomes the news itself.
As Camila Russo, founder of The Defiant, has noted, much of crypto media operates on a pay-to-play basis that often lacks proper disclosure. The real-world costs are not merely theoretical. In a notable Bloomberg investigation, projects like InfinityStakeChain and FlexyStakes successfully placed fake press releases on major platforms claiming a $12 million funding round led by Binance. The exchange, along with others like Polygon and Avalanche, had to publicly deny any involvement. Similarly, in 2021, a fraudulent release claiming Walmart would accept Litecoin caused a 30% price spike before the retailer issued a denial. These are not just PR blunders, they are market-moving events.
Policing this is a regulatory nightmare. The SEC has long understood the power of the press release. Data from 2002 to 2015 shows that press releases were the primary information channel in over 73% of pump-and-dump cases involving OTC penny stocks. However, the legal framework is porous. Section 17(b) of the Securities Act targets paid promoters and influencers, but press releases issued directly by a project are classified as issuer communications, which often fall outside that specific net. While false statements inducing trade remain actionable as fraud, the global, decentralized nature of these distributions makes enforcement a game of whack-a-mole.
The sensitivity of this topic is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction to the Chainstory report itself. BeInCrypto reported that several outlets, including Investing.com and Crypto Potato, allegedly removed coverage of the study following external pressure. When the mechanism of legitimacy is threatened, the system tends to protect itself.
Ultimately, the cost of this manufactured legitimacy is borne by the decision-makers who rely on it. Whether it is a retail investor chasing a keyword-stuffed release or an institutional participant scanning for signals, the fog created by these wire services is designed to obscure. When the fox is guarding the henhouse, and the henhouse is built on paid-for headlines, the wire service is the only entity guaranteed a profit.
Nolan Pratt works for Forkast.
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