Monday’s Litecoin (CRYPTO: LTC) spike thanks to a fake press release about its non-existent partnership with Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) is a wake-up call to not take “this stuff so seriously,” as per Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) co-creator Billy Markus.
What Happened: Markus reacted to the LTC-Walmart phony news and noted that multiple mainstream news outlets reported the false story. He also pointed out that gains in LTC were erased in minutes.
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Pure comedy:
– Phony article released about Walmart partnering with Litecoin
– Multiple mainstream news outlets report false story
– Litecoin skyrockets up 25% on the BS
– Story debunked
– Gains erased in minutesThere’s good reasons to not take this stuff so seriously
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) September 13, 2021
Former hedge fund manager and Bitcoin investor Michael Novogratz had a laugh on those who purchased LTC on the Walmart news.
The guys that bought $LTC on the Walmart news. https://t.co/xdbmhjN7oc
— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) September 14, 2021
David Gokhshtein, founder of Gokhshtein Media who had earlier tweeted a CNBC story on Walmart accepting payments using LTC but also questioned if the news was genuine said he got rugged by the cryptocurrency.
Got rugged by $LTC this morning.
— David Gokhshtein (@davidgokhshtein) September 13, 2021
Entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano, a Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) said the U.S. Department of Justice will look for the people responsible for the fake press release but the attention should be on media regulation.
Everyone is yelling and screaming about regulating the crypto industry after this morning’s fake press release.
The DOJ will look for the people responsible.
But we should have a conversation about who is regulating the media for not doing their diligence before publishing?? 👀
— Pomp (@APompliano) September 13, 2021
Why It Matters: Charlie Lee, creator of Litecoin and managing director of the Litecoin Foundation acknowledged in an interview with Bloomberg that the Foundation “screwed up” after one of its employees retweeted what was a fake announcement.
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“We try our best to not tweet fake news and this time we really screwed up,” he said — adding, “I deny that it has anything to do with us and we’ll try our best to figure out who did it — and we will stop fake news from spreading.”
As for Walmart, the company too took to Twitter to deny its relationship with LTC and issued a full-length statement as well.
An incorrect news release issued today falsely stated Walmart announced a partnership with Litecoin (LTC). Walmart has no relationship with Litecoin. Our full statement is here. https://t.co/BdjTWP2lHC
— Walmart Inc. (@WalmartInc) September 13, 2021
Price Action: LTC traded 0.37% higher at $178.48 at press time. The cryptocurrency has fallen 23.41% from an intraday peak of $233.06.
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