Fake Walmart litecoin press release sends crypto soaring
Several big corporations including major retailers have taken an active interest in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. We saw speculation recently indicating that crypto payments might be coming to Amazon and Walmart in the near future, as both companies are working on some blockchain initiatives. But we didn’t expect an announcement so soon. Yet a fake Walmart press release had the world fooled early on Monday, briefly sending litecoin prices soaring 20% before people realized that the announcement had been faked.
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The fake press release
Crypto enthusiasts are familiar with litecoin, one of the older bitcoin challengers. The coin reached an all-time high in mid-May when it topped $410. The previous record dates back to a late-2017 bull run when one litecoin sold for $366.
In 2021, the crypto landscape is different than it was 2017, and a fake Walmart announcement on Monday claiming that the retailer will support litecoin payments must have surprised many people. Walmart has been looking at crypto payments, given its recent job ad. But litecoin might seem like a strange choice to many people when other, more popular coins exist.
With that in mind, litecoin jumped from around $173 to $245 when the fake press release dropped. Several news outlets reported on the news, including Reuters and CNBC. Even the official Litecoin account retweeted the news before deleting the message.
The entire crypto market had been trading in the red on Monday. Most major coins registered losses, with some trading as much as 10% lower than on Sunday. The overall drop had nothing to do with the fake Walmart announcement. But litecoin surged on the fake news, before promptly falling back to previous levels.
