Using third-party crypto logos in marketing

Inside a product, a logo is a label: this row is ETH, this network is Base. In marketing, the same logo starts making claims. Put the Phantom logo on a landing page and readers will wonder what your relationship with Phantom is. This guide covers how to show supported chains, wallets and partners so that what your page implies matches what's true, and when to get permission before you publish.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by country, by platform and by each brand's guidelines. For paid campaigns or anything high-stakes, get advice from a lawyer in your jurisdiction.

Every logo answers a question

Before you place a logo in marketing material, decide which of these statements it's there to support:

• Compatibility: your product works with theirs ("Connect with MetaMask").
• Availability: your product or token is on their platform ("Live on Base").
• Relationship: you have a business or technical partnership ("Partners").
• Endorsement: they use, fund or recommend you ("Backed by", "Trusted by").

Compatibility and availability are facts you can usually verify yourself: you built the integration, you deployed the contract. Relationship and endorsement depend on the other party, so they need the other party's agreement before they appear on your page. The design and wording of the section should make it obvious which of the four it is.

Wording that matches the claim

The heading above a row of logos does most of the work. Pick the most modest wording that's still true.

Wording matters inside sentences too. "Swap tokens on Ethereum, Arbitrum and Polygon" describes your product. "The official swap app for Polygon" claims a status that only Polygon can give you.

Layouts that imply more than you mean

Design can make a claim even when the copy is neutral. Watch for these patterns:

• Lockups. Your logo, a "×" or "+", and their logo at the same size. That arrangement is the visual convention for a co-branded partnership.
• Scale. A third-party logo larger than yours, or alone in your hero section, suggests they're the main attraction or the sponsor.
• Borrowed palettes. A launch page themed entirely in a chain's colors, with their logo up top, reads as their page.
• Testimonial framing. A logo beside a quote suggests the company said it. Use only quotes people actually gave, with permission to attribute them.
• Isolation. One logo alone in a graphic carries more weight than the same logo in a row of twelve supported networks.

A "Supported networks" row with ten logos at the same modest size, in a single color, under a plain heading, is about as neutral as a logo section gets. The guide on partner logo walls shows how to build one that looks even.

Follow the brand's own rules

Many projects publish brand guidelines or a press kit, and some include a section on how integrators and partners may use the mark. Common points:

• use the official files, unaltered;
• keep the stated clear space and minimum size;
• use the approved color versions on the approved backgrounds;
• don't combine their logo with yours into a new mark;
• don't use the logo in a way that suggests endorsement without an agreement.

Some projects also offer ready-made "Built on" or "Powered by" badges for exactly this purpose. When a badge exists, use it rather than designing your own. The guide to press kits and brand guidelines explains where to find these files and how to read the rules.

For logos inside your product, an icon library is convenient because every logo arrives on the same grid. For marketing, especially print, large hero artwork and co-branded material, compare the icon with the official artwork and use the official file wherever the guidelines ask for it.

Ads, sponsored posts and app stores

Paid placements deserve extra care for two reasons. Commercial promotion is where brand owners are most likely to object, and ad networks and app stores apply their own trademark policies on top of the law. An ad that uses another company's name or logo can be rejected, restricted or taken down after a complaint, whatever you believe about your legal position.

Ask before you:

• put another project's logo in a paid ad, sponsored post or promoted listing;
• use it in app store screenshots or your app icon;
• print it on merchandise, booth graphics or giveaways;
• feature it prominently in a video or campaign.

A good request is short and specific: what the asset is, where it runs, for how long, at what size, with which wording, plus a mockup. Send it to the contact on the brand or press page. If you get no answer, treat that as a no for paid use.

Launch announcements

"Now live on Arbitrum" is one of the most common messages in crypto marketing, and it's usually a plain fact. A few habits keep it that way:

• Lead with your own brand. The chain's logo supports the message; it isn't the message.
• Use the chain's logo the way its guidelines describe, typically unmodified and with clear space around it.
• Don't call it a partnership unless the chain's team agreed to that framing. If they're announcing too, agree on the wording together.
• If an ecosystem runs a grant or accelerator program with its own badge, use the badge only if you're actually in the program.

Keep claims current

Logos on marketing pages age. Integrations get removed, partnerships end, chains wind down, brands redraw their marks. Put a review on the calendar, for example once a quarter, and check that:

• every logo still corresponds to a live integration, listing or agreement;
• each file matches the brand's current logo;
• any permission you relied on still applies, and you have it on file;
• the headings still describe what the logos below them claim.

Taking down a logo that's no longer accurate is part of the same job as adding one carefully. For the underlying rules on referring to someone else's mark, read crypto logos and trademarks.