Walmart and GlobeNewswire are investigating a false statement about a cryptocurrency transaction

<p>Walmart Inc. and a news release distributor are investigating a scam linking the company to a phoney cryptocurrency deal following an announcement, later proved to be fraudulent, that triggered a brief increase in Litecoin via an unregulated market.</p> <p>Walmart will begin accepting Litecoin payments at 9:30 a.m. in New York, according to a GlobeNewswire announcement. Litecoin is a relatively unknown instrument that is not among the top ten cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketCap.com. The comment was initially covered by Reuters, CNBC, and Bloomberg News, causing Litecoin to surge by as much as 33%. Within an hour, the merchant refuted the assertion, wiping out the most of the gain and driving the entire bitcoin market into a frenzy. Additionally, Litecoin later admitted the announcement was a hoax.</p> <p>According to the company and newswire, they are now investigating how the incidents unfolded. Tracking down the attacker may prove tough in the secretive realm of cryptocurrency transactions, and the incident may well encourage critics who warn that without regulation, digital currencies are vulnerable to manipulation by unscrupulous players.</p> <p>GlobeNewswire is cooperating with authorities on an investigation, "including any illegal activities related to this situation," according to an emailed statement from Intrado, the newswire's owner.</p> <p> “This has never happened before, and we have already implemented strengthened authentication measures to prevent a recurrence of this rare incident,” Intrado added. According to its website, Intrado distributes 200,000 news releases per year. It is owned by Apollo Global Management.</p> <p>Immediately following the appearance of the bogus announcement, a tweet from Litecoin's verified account linked to the release, lending legitimacy to the news. That tweet was removed after it was revealed that the announcement was a forgery, according to Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin and managing director of the Litecoin Foundation.</p> <p>Lee stated in a