Most crypto coins were at a loss on Monday afternoon after fake news that the American retail chain Walmart was going to accept litecoin. Litecoin rose sharply after that message, up to 33 percent, but other digital currencies also rose.

 

After some time, the Litecoin Foundation deleted a Twitter message about the collaboration, and Walmart also denied the news moments later.

The profits of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum soon plunged into the minus. Litecoin itself stood at a fairly small plus for a long time. Adopting the 11th digital currency by market value by a major player like Walmart could be a huge boost for all cryptocurrencies.

The fake news story was distributed via the Globe Newswire service. Walmart says it is investigating the message, which included a quote attributed to Walmart’s CEO. The message also closely resembled the press releases used by large companies to announce the news.

The fake news illustrates how easy it is to profit from fake news in the world of cryptos. Unfortunately, because there is no regulator, it is not immediately clear what companies can do to prevent abuse of their name.