We’ve all seen it: a new project launches with a website covered in logos like Forbes, Bloomberg, or Reuters. We’re taught to trust these “Tier-1” outlets, but I just spent 5 months auditing the infrastructure that puts those logos there—and the results are terrifying.
I work in PR, and we conducted a “hygiene audit” of nearly 3,000 crypto press releases from June to Nov 2025. We cross-referenced them with fraud databases (like ZachXBT’s reports) and on-chain activity.
Here is the reality of the “Crypto News” cycle:
The 62% Scam Rate: Over half of the releases we tracked came from entities that were actually confirmed scams, rug-pulls, or high-risk “ghost” projects. The “Trophy URL” Trap: Scammers aren’t paying for readers, they are paying for the URL. They use that link to “game” Google’s Knowledge Graph and appear legitimate in search results. It’s a “reputation laundry” service. Zero Substance: Only 2% of releases actually covered real events like funding or major partnerships. The other 98% were just hype designed to trigger FOMO.How to protect yourself (DYOR 2.0):
Ignore the Logos: A “Bloomberg” or “Yahoo Finance” link is often just a paid press release (look for “Paid Content” or “Sponsored” in tiny text). It is NOT editorial endorsement (=anyone with some money to spare can say almost anything they want and it’ll get “published”). Check the “Omitted Results”: If you search for the project and Google says “results omitted,” it means the “news” is just syndicated spam that provides zero value. The “Lights On” Test: If a project has “Tier-1 news” but their parking lot is empty (zero github activity, no real team on LinkedIn, no actual utility), this is a HUGR red flag.I’m sharing this because the “Press Release Pump” is the new version of the 90s penny stock scam. Don’t let a “reputable” URL trick you into a rug pull.
Full report: https://x.com/TalHarelTal/status/2018704389192499299
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