Litecoin rose by almost 25% after a fake news release caused the financial press to believe Walmart. The country’s largest retailer will begin accepting cryptocurrency payments online next month.
Despite the lack of official Walmart accounts, the revelation was extensively covered in the financial press, including CNBC and Reuters. However, the announcement was not real, according to Randy Hargrove, a Walmart spokesperson.
Wal-Mart targets a fake news release claiming it has partnered with Litecoin (LTC) on September 13th. “Walmart was unaware of GlobeNewswire’s press statement, which was false.” Litecoin and Walmart do not have a connection.”
GlobeNewswire Press Release
The press release sends by a new account on GlobeNewswire, a Los Angeles-based corporation that distributes press releases.
“Journalists and other readers should dismiss the news release,” GlobeNewswire started shortly after 11 a.m. ET in a statement.
In a since-deleted message, a confirmed Litecoin Twitter account mentioned the phony launch.
“This morning, Global Newswire received a phony news release. “It is not our policy to announce a cooperation in this manner,” the Litecoin Foundation said later Monday on Twitter.” Reuters was among the first to report the news, and one of our social media staff members responded by tweeting the article from the Litecoin Twitter account. “This resolves quickly, and we’ve taken steps to avoid future issues.”
The initial release boldly quoted Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who is rarely included informal corporate announcements, adding to the suspicions. Also, the notice listed Walmart CMO William White as a contact, when the company generally allocates that responsibility to a communications team member.
William.white@walmart-corp.com, the email address mentioned in the news release, returned an “Address not found” error. Walmart’s Chief Marketing Officer, William White, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Litecoin’s price jumped over 25% on the news, reaching just under $234 per coin, according to CoinDesk.
By 10:30 a.m., the price of Litecoin had decreased to $179 per coin, after most news outlets had corrected their coverage.
Litecoin
Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency with a focus on fast, low-cost transactions. It was one of the first so-called altcoins, or Bitcoin alternatives when it launches in 2011.
GlobalNewswire representatives did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Also, the Litecoin Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Many people on Twitter chastised news companies for not verifying the press release’s validity before republishing it.
News outlets, according to Neeraj K. Agrawal, a crypto specialist at the Coin Center, “dropped the ball.”
It’s obvious to journalists with “working knowledge of cryptocurrencies,” Agrawal told The Washington Post.
Agrawal, who formerly worked at Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase, believes the phony is part of an anonymous cryptocurrency user’s pump-and-dump scheme.
“It’s astonished if it was Litecoin’s official or well-known representative,” he remarked. “It was most likely a random Litecoin holder.”
It’s still unclear who’s to blame for the phony press release.
