A seemingly fake press release pushed Litecoin prices up 30% Monday morning.
Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty ImagesCryptocurrencies turned sharply lower on Monday after retail giant Walmart denied it had struck an agreement to accept Litecoin payments, following a seemingly fake press release.
Litecoin surged more than 30% following the release published by GlobalNewswire at 9:30 a.m. ET a.m. but has since given up almost all of those gains.
The report claimed that from Oct. 1 all of Walmart’s e-commerce stores would have a “Pay with Litecoin Option.”
Litecoin’s official Twitter account also posted the news, while earlier media reports also suggested Walmart (ticker: WMT) and Litecoin had entered a partnership.
A Walmart spokesperson has since confirmed to Barron’s that the release was “not authentic.”
Bitcoin rose 3.9% from $44,864 to $46,616 following the release but has since fallen back to $44,026 on Walmart’s denial. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, followed a similar pattern—spiking and then falling back below their price before the announcement.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keowndowjones.com
Hot
No comment on record. Start new comment.