Fake Walmart news release sparked a spike in the lesser used cryptocurrency Litecoin

Litecoin traded as high as $231, up 30%, following the release via Globe Newswire at 9:30 a.m. ET. The cryptocurrency fell quickly after Walmart called the news release fraudulent.

The news purportedly released from Walmart claimed that the retail giant will allow customers to pay with cryptocurrencies. Walmart shares closed 44 cents lower at $145.29.

“The press release is not authentic. Walmart does not currently accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment in the US,” she said.

Litecoin creator Charlie Lee stated that the release was not associated with the cryptocurrency or the Litecoin Foundation, a non-profit that manages it as a software project. “Yeah, it’s fake,” he said. “I don’t know who made it.”

The Litecoin Foundation’s social media manager was fooled by the fake release, Mr. Lee said, and retweeted it from the foundation’s Twitter account. “They thought it was real too,” he said. “It was wrong to retweet it. We deleted it soon after. But the damage is done.”

Mr. Lee said the group would formally apologize for the mistake via its Twitter account.

Mr. Lee created Litecoin in 2011 as an alternative to bitcoin, taking the latter’s code and tweaking it to create a digital currency with lower fees and faster confirmation times. It has been one of the more well-known cryptocurrencies, but has never grown more than a curiosity.

Litecoin trading has been flat in recent months. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the average daily trading volume has grown to around $2 billion since the beginning of July. After the news was released, however, business increased. According to the website, its volume has increased by almost 200% to $7.4 billion in the last 24 hours.