Christmas Eve disguised as Circle official releases new products, media rushing to report instead fuels the spread of fake news

Fake Christmas Eve news impersonating Circle announced CircleMetals and fictional tokens, misleading users to connect wallets. Circle urgently clarifies and denies, criticizing media for rushing to publish and amplifying scam risks.

Fake news released on Christmas Eve, disguising as official products to mislead the market

During Christmas Eve, a press release claiming that stablecoin issuer Circle launched a new platform called “CircleMetals,” offering tokenized gold and silver trading, circulated across communities and multiple crypto information channels.

The press release claimed that users could perform 24-hour exchanges between $USDC and the so-called “$GLDC” gold token, “$SILC” silver token on the CircleMetals platform, with liquidity supposedly sourced from COMEX-related markets, and even promised users a 1.25% reward in “$CIRM” tokens.

Since the release was timed on December 24, when most US companies are in holiday mode, the market had difficulty verifying with official sources immediately. The news was quickly reposted in some communities, causing considerable confusion. However, Circle promptly confirmed to CoinDesk that the content was entirely false; the platform and the so-called products are fabricated and are not official Circle services.

Counterfeit branding and high-risk operations suspected of wallet phishing

Further investigation shows that the fake website not only heavily uses Circle’s official visual elements and logos but also fabricates senior executives’ statements, impersonating CEO Jeremy Allaire to endorse, attempting to create a highly credible official image.

However, neither the tokens $GLDC, $SILC mentioned in the press release nor the so-called $CIRM reward tokens have any evidence of existence in mainstream data platforms or on-chain records. More risky is that the website requires users to connect their crypto wallets directly to enable exchanges.

Security experts point out that such unverified platforms are highly likely used for wallet phishing or malicious authorization. Once users connect their wallets, assets could be stolen.

Circle also issued a warning on the social platform X, reminding users to verify the authenticity of sources repeatedly before connecting wallets or performing asset operations, to avoid falling victim to scams during the information vacuum of the holiday period.

Image source: X/@circle Circle posts warning users to beware of scams

Media rushing to repost and losing control, fueling fake news spread should be reviewed

It is worth noting that the fake news initially appeared in a format similar to an official press release on community forums, then was quickly reposted by some crypto news aggregation sites and PR channels before verification was complete, aiding the spread of false information.

The related PR agency later confirmed that a PR firm called FinaCash attempted to push the news to the distribution platform but was taken down after further compliance checks.

This incident again highlights that, in the highly competitive crypto news environment, some media and content distributors, in their rush for speed and traffic, neglect basic verification responsibilities, becoming amplifiers of fake news.

In the context of the crypto industry, where scams are frequent and information asymmetry is severe, if media fail to act as gatekeepers, they not only harm readers’ interests but also erode the overall trust in the industry.

Industry experts generally believe that relevant media and distribution platforms should not only issue corrections publicly but also take responsibility for their negligence. Otherwise, similar Christmas Eve fake news will continue to recur in the future.

This article is compiled by Crypto Agent from various sources, reviewed and edited by Crypto City. It is still in training and may contain logical biases or inaccuracies. The content is for reference only; do not consider it investment advice.