Kroger Inc.’s website posted a news release Friday saying that customers will soon be able to use Bitcoin Cash as their in-store and online payment form. This was not true, said the grocery shopper.
“The communication was fraudulent and baseless and should be disregarded,” a company spokesperson said.
The release, which was posted on Kroger’s Investor Relations page, was removed. The spokesperson said the release of PR Newswire, a platform for media outlets to distribute announcements, automatically feeds the press-release section on Kroger’s website.
PR Newswire did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is not the first time there has been a fraudulent news release from a major retailer stating that any type of cryptocurrency will be accepted as a form of payment. Shares of the little-used cryptocurrency Litecoin surged in mid-September after a fake news release by Walmart Inc. allegedly said customers could use the cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
Kroger shares were down 2% in morning trading. According to CoinDesk, the price of Bitcoin Cash was above $630 in a fake press release on Friday morning, but fell shortly after.
Bitcoin Cash, an offshoot of bitcoin, was developed with the idea of fixing the problems that were preventing bitcoin from becoming a mainstream way to pay for things. Its underlying technology is similar to that of bitcoin, but changes were made to bitcoin cash to try to make transactions faster and with lower fees.
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