NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart on Monday denied partnering with the digital currency Litecoin after a fake news publication sparked a brief period of inaccurate reporting from national news outlets and social media users.
Walmart spokesperson Molly Blakeman issued a news release claiming that a partnership between Walmart and Litecoin is “not real.”
The false announcement was briefly featured in major press releases and media outlets including Reuters, CNBC and Yahoo Finance, but was removed and corrected. It was not immediately clear who created it.
Let’s take a closer look at the facts here.
Claim: Walmart announced a major partnership with the digital currency Litecoin on Monday.
Fact: The nation’s largest retailer is not affiliated with Litecoin, even though a fake news release claims it is, Blakeman told The Associated Press by phone. Ta.
The release falsely advertised the headline “Walmart Announces Major Partnership with Litecoin.” Fabricated statements from Walmart’s CEO and Litecoin developer to falsely claim that Walmart will allow customers to pay with the digital currency starting October 1st.
After this release was published, Twitter users noted that Walmart did not announce the partnership on its corporate website and that the contact email address listed in the release did not match the address on the company’s actual website. I pointed out that it was not.
Although the announcement is fake, Blakeman said Walmart is looking to hire experts in digital currency and blockchain.
The release of this false news momentarily stunned national news outlets, Twitter users, and crypto buyers. Litecoin’s price skyrocketed from around $175 early Monday morning to around $233 within seconds of the press release being published. After a few minutes, the price fell just as quickly.
Globe Newswire briefly featured the release on its site before removing it, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company is a client of The Associated Press, which distributes press releases to the AP’s customer network.
Litecoin did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
__
This is part of AP’s efforts to combat widely shared misinformation, including working with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content circulating online. is. For more fact-checking information, visit AP.
