Did Walmart Really Add Litecoin to Its Payment Options? The Litecoin Hype, Debunked

Cryptocurrency adoption may be moving forward on a global scale—El Salvador has made Bitcoin legal tender, and Ukraine has legalized crypto. However, the scale may be tipping domestically, too. A press release indicates that Walmart is the latest to make a move, by adding Litecoin to its payment options. Was the Walmart-Litecoin announcement legit or a pump-and-dump tactic?

Here are the details of Walmart's newest reported payment option, and whether Litecoin holders will actually be able to use their crypto to pay for bargain products.

Reuters and Global Newswire released stories this morning reporting that Walmart will be accepting Litecoin as payment. The reports state that Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said, "Starting October 1st, all eCommerce stores will have implemented a 'Pay with Litecoin Option."

Even though Walmart does use blockchain for banking and other purposes, people were skeptical about the news from the start. Litecoin is an altcoin, and Walmart has yet to adopt Bitcoin as payment. Given the market's notorious volatility, it's more likely that a major company like Walmart would start with the original crypto.

Within an hour of the news reports, a spokesperson from Walmart has confirmed that the story is fake. Walmart will not, in fact, be accepting Litecoin as payment moving forward.

Crypto investors who piled into Litecoin immediately following the news are likely regretting their decision. Meanwhile, the person who's responsible for spreading the false story should hope they don't get caught, as it will likely be considered a pump-and-dump scheme by authorities.

Unlike the stock market, crypto runs on a 24-hour clock. Anything can happen at any point in the day, with or without grace. Today, Litecoin is tumbling after Walmart's announcement that the Litecoin payment story is fake..

Whereas Litecoin's trading volume has increased 164.12 percent in the last 24 hours, the coin's value has fallen 2.35 percent. The coin soared on the fake news and then tanked when people realized it wasn't legitimate.

If anything, this event should serve as a reminder to crypto investors to take news stories with a grain of salt, even if they're from a reputable site. Some investors tapped into Litecoin at the peak of $231.11, and it had fallen to $182.35 as of mid-morning on Sep. 13. All of this happened within a matter of hours.

In mid-August, Walmart posted a job ad for a "digital currency and cryptocurrency product lead." Meanwhile, the company already uses blockchain to digitize and decentralize its food supply chain processes. It has yet to delve into accepting crypto as payment, but will likely use Bitcoin as its first foray rather than an altcoin such as Litecoin.

All speculation aside, Walmart is not accepting Litecoin as payment, despite the news that (briefly) took the crypto world by storm.