The Litecoin cryptocurrency rose 20 percent on Monday after a fake press release claiming that Walmart would start accepting Litecoin payments.
The press release published on GlobeNewswire did not mention data on the OTC Commission's deposit, which would have been expected since Walmart is in public trading.
Meanwhile Walmart's official press releases didn't say anything about the event and the company usually uses it Business Wire for its new distribution.
Dave Pleiss, vice president, investor and public relations manager of GlobeNewswire, said in an email to The Verge that this has never happened to the company before.
"When GlobeNewswire learned this morning that a malicious user account was used to issue the fake press release, we immediately retracted it and issued a prenotice".
The company has already implemented "enhanced authentication steps to prevent this isolated incident in the future," Pleiss added, and reported that GlobeNewswire is working with authorities on a "full investigation into any criminal activity related to this incident." theme".
Several news agencies republished the press release and a short time later the price of Litecoin rose, along with those of other cryptocurrencies, before falling quickly to previous levels.
It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
