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On Monday morning, Walmart appeared to announce that it might start accepting cryptocurrency Litecoin for on-line functions, in what CNN is asking an anticipated pump-and-dump scheme.
Walmart quickly released a statement to make clear that the information launch was false. The value of Litecoin rose from round $175 per coin to greater than $230 however rapidly fell once more to $178.
‘Walmart was the topic of a pretend information launch issued on Monday, September 13, that falsely said [we had] introduced a partnership with Litecoin,’ the corporate’s assertion says. ‘Walmart had no data of the press launch issued by GlobeNewswire, and it’s incorrect. Walmart has no relationship with Litecoin.’
Numerous information shops, together with Reuters, printed information tales based mostly on the announcement. One among these information tales was retweeted by the official account for the Litecoin Basis on Twitter. The Litecoin Basis subsequently issued a statement explaining that it had no involvement within the false media launch and that ‘one among our social media crew members was a little bit too keen and shared the story from the Litecoin Twitter account.’
GlobeNewswire eliminated the preliminary, fraudulent press launch and issued a discover to ignore it.
SEC eyes crypto motion
There have just lately been indicators that the SEC, underneath Gary Gensler’s management, may crack down on cryptocurrencies, which stay largely unregulated. Final yr, Gensler taught a category in cryptocurrency and blockchain on the MIT Sloan College of Administration.
On September 1, the SEC’s Workplace of Investor Schooling and Advocacy and Division of Enforcement’s Retail Technique Activity Power launched a press release warning traders in regards to the dangers of cryptocurrency scams. ‘Fraudsters proceed to use the rising recognition of digital property to lure retail traders into scams, usually resulting in devastating losses,’ the statement reads.
On September 7, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong printed a Twitter thread during which he explains that the SEC just lately halted the launch of Lend, which might have allowed Coinbase customers to lend out cryptocurrencies and earn a reward. Within the thread, Armstrong stated that in a visit to Washington, DC in Could, the SEC was the one authorities company that that didn’t take a gathering with Coinbase after being contacted.
Public firms accepting cryptocurrency
Numerous public firms – together with Visa, Sq., Overstock, Microsoft, PayPal, Tesla and AT&T – now settle for some type of cryptocurrency for some purchases. Many of those firms additionally personal cryptocurrency as a part of their treasury.
One such firm is Sq.. Chatting with IR Journal in June, Nikhil Dixit, director of investor relations at Sq., stated: ‘From a shareholder perspective, it’s been an attention-grabbing journey. For our analysts, initially the income accounting we’ve to explain for Bitcoin provides numerous noise for Gaap accounting. We’ve spent numerous time educating our analysts about tips on how to mannequin on that.
‘The opposite dynamic is the volatility round Bitcoin and the way it influences inventory value. In intervals the place there’s vital adjustments within the value of Bitcoin, the vital factor we’ve to clarify is that it’s not the value that issues however the demand for Bitcoin.’
Earlier this yr, Goldman Sachs looked at 19 companies which have built-in Bitcoin into some side of their enterprise fashions and located that they’d outperformed the S&P 500 by 34 proportion factors.
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