Crypto news stories are vanishing without a trace. Articles questioning the influence of paid press releases have quietly disappeared from major crypto websites, leaving little evidence they were ever published.
At the same time, thousands of promotional announcements continue to flood the industry, shaping narratives, moving markets, and blurring the line between journalism and advertising.
Chainstory analyzed 2,893 press releases distributed between June 16 and November 1, 2025. Using AI-driven sentiment tagging and risk classification, cross-referenced with blacklists like CryptoLegal.uk, Trustpilot, and scam alert feeds, the report found that:
• Low-risk issuers accounted for only 27% of releases.
• In certain niches, such as cloud mining, scam, or high-risk content, dominated ~90% of releases.
The tone of the content was heavily promotional:
Content type breakdown further highlighted the triviality of much coverage:
Based on this, the researchers concluded that these dynamics create a “manufactured legitimacy loop.” Dubious projects buy guaranteed placements across dozens of outlets, including mainstream financial portals, sidebars, and niche crypto aggregators.
Placement allows these projects to populate “As Seen On” sections, leveraging recognition to drive retail FOMO.
Headlines are deliberately loaded with marketing buzzwords like “AI-Powered Revolution,” “RWA Game-Changer,” terms editorial desks would likely reject if scrutinized.
The ecosystem echoes TradFi abuses. SEC data shows press releases fueled 73% of OTC penny-stock pump-and-dump schemes from 2002–2015.
In crypto, the effect is amplified, with algorithmic trading bots that scrape keywords such as “partnership” or “listing,” automatically triggering buy orders.
The result is a short-term price pump, often followed by unexpected declines once the underlying project fails to meet expectations.
Complicating matters, FTC rules for native advertising require clear disclosure. In practice, many crypto “Press Release” sections appear neutral, erasing the sponsored stigma and conferring the illusion of independent validation.
Retail investors often interpret the placement of content on recognized domains as evidence of legitimacy.