A press release is a document with a specific job: to be usable by an editor without rewriting. Most crypto releases fail at that, which is why they end up in the paid section, unread, with a nofollow link.
The format has been stable for decades and the rules are not arbitrary. Each one exists because editors work at speed.
1. Lead with what happened
The first sentence contains who, what and when. Not context, not the mission, not the state of the industry. If a reader stops after one sentence they should know the news.
Everything below the lead is arranged in descending order of importance, so that an editor cutting for length removes from the bottom and the release still works. Writing towards a conclusion at the end is the structure that guarantees the release is cut badly.
2. Write a headline that survives being read alone
Under about twelve words, containing the specific fact. Aggregators, feeds and assistants display the headline without the body, so a headline that only makes sense with context does not travel.
Name the project and the concrete thing. Vague headlines built on words like unveils, empowers and revolutionises say nothing and are the reason a release reads as promotional before anyone reaches the first paragraph.
3. Keep it to one page
Four hundred to five hundred words. Long releases are not more thorough, they are less edited, and the additional material is almost always background that belongs on the website.
If something cannot be cut, it is probably the news and belongs higher up.
4. Use quotes that say something
One or two quotes, from named people with titles. A quote should carry information or a judgement that would not be credible in the neutral voice of the release: why the decision was made, what was difficult, what happens next.
Quotes that restate the preceding paragraph in the first person are the single most common wasted space in crypto releases, and editors delete them first.
5. Attach evidence to every number
Each figure needs a date and a source: an explorer link, an audit report, a filing, a named research provider. Undated numbers are treated as marketing and removed.
Avoid superlatives entirely. First, largest and fastest require proof, and a claim that cannot be supported casts doubt on the parts of the release that could have been.
6. Follow the compliance rules for your audience
No price predictions, no return projections, no language framing the token as an investment opportunity. Many outlets will reject the release outright on those grounds, and some jurisdictions require specific disclosure wording.
Where a release concerns a token sale, state the restrictions plainly. This is also what keeps the release usable by outlets with stricter editorial policies, which are the ones worth reaching.
7. Close with a boilerplate and real contacts
A short standing paragraph about the company: what it does, where it is based, when it was founded. Then a named media contact with an email that a person reads, and the website.
A generic address nobody monitors is a common and expensive mistake, because the journalist who wants to expand the release into a real article has no way through.
8. Prepare the assets alongside it
Logo in usable formats, one relevant image at a publishable resolution, and the exact link with any tracking already applied. Missing assets delay publication and produce releases that run without images, which perform worse everywhere.
Send the release as text in the email body as well as any attachment. Editors copy from the body, and a release that exists only inside a document is one extra step at a moment when speed decides whether it runs.
Where releases go wrong before they are written
The most common failure is that there was no news. A release announcing a partnership with no product consequence, or a rebrand, is correctly formatted and still uninteresting, and no distribution list fixes that.
The second is confusing distribution with coverage. A release published on outlets that accept paid submissions is a placement. A reporter writing about the same event is coverage, and the pitch that produces it is a different document, covered in how to pitch a crypto journalist.
Which outlets pass a followed link, and how to verify it, is in how to tell if a placement passes a followed link. Writing and distribution are on our crypto PR page.