Litecoin recorded a 35% and 28.6% profit in the 1-hour and 24-hour charts, respectively, after major mainstream media websites reported a fake LTC integration into Walmart e-commerce stores. According to the fake press release, the company was going to allow its “millions of shoppers” to leverage crypto payments with LTC.
The fake Litecoin integration was going to allegedly take place in October, as reported by Reuters, and others.
Related Reading | Mark Cuban Weighs In On Latest SEC Action By Urging Coinbase To Go On The Offensive
The unconfirmed press release even quoted Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO, claiming that the excitement in Litecoin and cryptocurrencies is “real”. Thus, the fake quote said that Walmart consolidated a partnership with the Litecoin Foundation poised to facilitate crypto payments with low fees and fast transactions. The document added:
As a leading eCommerce store, we are committed to bringing innovations to the online shopping experience. By integrating Litecoin, we will enable shoppers to experience a very smooth checkout experience with near instant transaction confirmation, and near-zero fees regardless of where in the world they are.
LTC and the rest of the crypto market have negatively responded to the fake news and its subsequent denial by Walmart representatives. At the time of writing, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies record medium losses in lower timeframes and heavier losses in the weekly chart.
Related Reading | Digital Scarcity: How Ethereum is Beating Bitcoin At Its Own Game
Litecoin records a 22% loss in the 1-hour chart and a 1.5% loss in the daily chart. Ironically, LTC’s price seems barely affected, at the moment. The Litecoin Foundation, and Charlie Lee, LTC’s inventor, are yet to comment on recent developments.
The Litecoin And Walmart Fake News Could Have Long-Term Consequences?
In the crypto community, the news has caused controversy. Some users speak about an alleged coordinated market manipulation that used mainstream media platforms and their low familiarity with Litecoin, and the crypto market.
Related Reading | SEC Threatens To Sue Coinbase Due To Higher Interest On Cryptocurrency Products
Caitlin Long, Founder, and CEO of Avanti, initially commented on the integration of LTC in Walmart was going to “attract bankers” attention. After it was confirmed that the report is fake, Long said:
this caught a lot of mainstream press too. Whoever did this seems to have orchestrated it so the mainstream press would release their stories shortly after the embargo was lifted at 9:30amET. Ramifications & a big fraud investigation incoming…
Additionally, despite confirmation that the report is fake, the news on Walmart accepting Litecoin is still live on some major mainstream media websites.
The Reuters report on Walmart accepting Litecoin is still up despite Walmart now refuting the fake Globe Newswire press release that triggered all the headlines pic.twitter.com/LMAAWDiezE
— Zack Guzmán (@zGuz) September 13, 2021