Community members questioned the authenticity of the пресс-релиза published in Walmart’s name about the start of a partnership with the nonprofit Litecoin Foundation. Later both organisations denied the news.
An official statement regarding today’s false news — Charlie Lee will be live on Bloomberg today at 2pm PST addressing the subject. pic.twitter.com/x7z7NZ02nZ
— Litecoin Foundation (@LTCFoundation) September 13, 2021
A Walmart spokesperson, in comments to CNBC, called the press release fake. Earlier the verified Litecoin account on Twitter deleted the tweet mentioning a partnership with the retailer. The Litecoin Foundation stressed that this was a hasty decision by one of the profile’s administrators.
The press release stated that Walmart would allegedly integrate Litecoin from October 1. In this context the cryptocurrency price rose by more than 35%, and then collapsed just as sharply. The news was published by Reuters, Bloomberg and CNBC, fueling short-term market hype.
Walmart, in a comment to The Block stated that “they are not partnering with Litecoin, despite the press release published today.”
«Walmart ничего не знал о пресс-релизе, выпущенном GlobeNewswire, и он некорректен. Walmart не имеет отношения к Litecoin», — подчеркнули в компании.
Litecoin founder Charlie Lee, in an interview with the publication, described the reports as “fake.”
Journalists noted that the press release was distributed through an external channel, not Walmart’s official press site. It also did not include the so-called Safe Harbour rule, which is often used in statements by public companies.
The Block journalist Frank Chaparro noted that the mail domain listed in the release had been registered only a month earlier.
Sus af. Not pulling the trigger on putting out a story yet. https://t.co/cTyZJYNr46
— Frank Chaparro (@fintechfrank) September 13, 2021
Chaparro did not rule out that “this pump-and-dump scheme, which deceived basically everyone, will draw the further ire of Gary Gensler and co.”
Wouldn’t be surprised if this pump and dump scheme — which tricked basically everyone — draws the further ire of Gary Gensler and co
— Frank Chaparro (@fintechfrank) September 13, 2021
Earlier in August, Walmart opened a vacancy for a product lead related to cryptocurrencies. The role involved creating and managing the development strategy in digital assets.
Subscribe to ForkLog’s channel on YouTube!