Multiple parties respond to the Litecoin fake news incident: will investigate any related criminal activities
"The social media manager of the Litecoin Foundation was fooled by false information."Author: Gu Yu
On the evening of September 13, the news distribution platform GlobeNewswire released an article titled "Walmart Announces Major Partnership with Litecoin," stating that Walmart would support Litecoin payments. Subsequently, media outlets such as Bloomberg and Reuters reported the news, leading to a general surge in the prices of Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies by 5-20%.
However, Walmart later responded that the news was false and stated that it was in contact with GlobeNewswire to understand how the fake press release was published. GlobeNewswire also deleted the article afterward. Amid the ups and downs of investor sentiment, this created one of the most dramatic scenes in the recent cryptocurrency market: after a rapid rise of 15 minutes, the market quickly retraced its gains in the following half hour, even dropping to lower levels.
Due to the destructive impact of this event on the crypto market, many industry KOLs have questioned the news release processes of mainstream media. However, the primary responsibility is still believed to lie with GlobeNewswire. It is understood that GlobeNewswire releases 200,000 press releases annually and is a major platform for many publicly listed companies.
As a news distribution platform with a certain level of influence, GlobeNewswire distributed false news under the misguidance of fake accounts, reflecting deficiencies in the agency's user identity verification mechanisms. The agency has stated in a declaration that it will strengthen the steps for identity verification and cooperate with authorities to investigate any criminal activities related to this matter.
"When GlobeNewswire learned this morning that fraudulent user accounts were used to publish illegal press releases, we immediately retracted the press release and issued a 'disregard notice.' This has never happened before, and we have established steps to strengthen identity verification to prevent this isolated incident from occurring in the future. We will cooperate with the relevant authorities to request and assist in a comprehensive investigation, including investigating any criminal activities related to this matter," the company stated in a declaration.
In addition, the Litecoin Foundation's official Twitter account retweeted the false news, and Litecoin founder Charlie Lee stated in an interview with Bloomberg that the social media manager of the Litecoin Foundation was fooled by the false news and retweeted it using the Litecoin Foundation's Twitter account, quickly deleting it after confirming it was fake.
"The incident of publishing false information does not only occur in the crypto field; it can also happen in the stock market. No one on our side needs to take responsibility for this. We have understood the importance of social media and will verify information before publishing. Litecoin is eligible to be used by about 100,000 merchants. I have no motive to fabricate false announcements. I hold about 20 Litecoins," Charlie Lee said.
However, despite Walmart's news about supporting Litecoin being confirmed as false, the company has indeed been preparing to enter the crypto market in recent months. Last month, the company posted a job announcement on its website stating that it had announced earlier this year that it would develop a "digital currency strategy and product roadmap," while identifying "crypto-related investments and partnerships."
