A fake Walmart domain was used to send out a press release alleging a cooperation between the retail giant and Litecoin’s creators.
The news was supported by a press release sent out by Walmart-Corp.com, a domain registered with NameCheap on August 17, 2021.
End result: Litecoin jumped from $174 dollars to $237.88 dollars per coin today, following massive buys. It’s safe to assume that the hoax’s perpetrators sold their Litecoin at peak price. It currently trades at $182 dollars.
The story was picked up by several big news outlets, including Reuters and Bloomberg, creating a ripple effect of the news.
Walmart learned of the fake press release only after it started receiving calls from reporters seeking to confirm accounts from some news outlets that had published information based on the release. Walmart typically uses Businesswire for its announcements and that the press contact named in the release does not work in Walmart’s media division.
The news was also briefly posted by the @Litecoin Twitter account. The Litecoin Foundation, which supports the currency’s development, later posted that it had not entered into a partnership with Walmart.
Hopefully Namecheap will report the domain’s owner to the US federal authorities.
More details here.
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I saw that run yesterday and had no idea what for before it was at its peak. As I have no position in Litecoin I said to myself, “Well, that’s neat. Good for those investors.” Hopefully, not too many got swooped up in it as it could represent a tremendous loss with human emotion. However, if you’re long on crypto and think you got burnt on this, zoom out—you still likely are facing a 2x, if not more, in time.