Litecoin’s price spikes following a fake Walmart press release

Litecoin reportedly partnered with the United States retailing giant Walmart, but the news turned out to be fake

The price of Litecoin surged by more than 30% yesterday after news surfaced that the cryptocurrency had partnered with retailing giant Walmart. However, the reports were later confirmed to be fake, and Litecoin’s price returned to its previous level.

The fake press announcement was released yesterday, stating that Walmart wanted to offer its customers the option to pay for their goods using cryptocurrencies via a partnership with the Litecoin Foundation. However, Walmart came out to announce that the press release was fake and that there was no partnership with the Litecoin Foundation.

The company said, “Walmart was the subject of a fake news release issued on Monday, Sept. 13, that falsely stated Walmart announced a partnership with Litecoin (LTC). Walmart had no knowledge of the press release issued by GlobeNewswire, and it is incorrect. Walmart has no relationship with Litecoin.”

GlobeNewswire also asked its readers to disregard the news that Litecoin had partnered with retailing giant Walmart. The news platform termed the information as fake. Litecoin’s price went on a rollercoaster ride yesterday following these announcements.

The Litecoin Foundation retweeted the fake news yesterday but immediately deleted it after realising that it was fake. The fake report claimed that Walmart’s e-commerce store would integrate a Pay with Litecoin option next month.

The initial report of a partnership caused LTC’s price to spike by nearly 30%, from $175.45 to $225.75 yesterday. At the same time, Bitcoin’s price also rose by nearly 2% to surpass the $45,000 mark yesterday. However, after Walmart came out to reveal that the news was fake and there was no such partnership between the two entities, Litecoin’s price dropped back to its previous level.

At the time of writing, LTC is trading at $177 per coin, up by 0.30% over the past 24 hours. LTC’s price is down by nearly 20% over the past week as the broader cryptocurrency market continues its bearish performance.