The cryptocurrency Litecoin briefly shot up on Monday after an announcement was made that it would be partnering with Walmart and that the massive retail chain would allow Litecoin payments in its stores. This would have been a massive step forward for not only Litecoin but cryptocurrency as a whole, bringing more mainstream attention to digital assets. It would have been had this not been a hoax.

Litecoin went from $174.14 (LTC/USD) to spike up to $233.33. It was to the last, though, as the fake announcement was found out and the price plummeted down to $177.22. Anyone hoping to ride a wave of long term returns on their investment through a Litecoin/Walmart deal was sorely disappointed and missed out on their opportunity to sell high during this brief window.

How This Blip Affected Litecoin

Thankfully, Litecoin has not fallen from its original position following this news. The increased publicity hasn’t done anything for the crypto, keeping it around that same level, close to $180, which is where it has been for most of the last week.

Early in September, Litecoin surpassed $230, moving much higher than its previous level. This only lasted for a couple of days, however, before it settled back down to around the $180 level. This has definitely been a month of interesting movement for the crypto, and it’s one to watch for those looking to make quick profits through day trading.

How Did It Happen?

GlobalNewswire reported that a fake user account was created to publish the false story, and then that story was picked up by multiple news outlets, including CNBC. GlobalNewswire says that new authentication security has been put in place to prevent this from happening in the future. Analysts speculate that the false news report was issued as a way to boost profits for interested parties. Artificially inflating the price of Litecoin even briefly can provide an incredible return on investment for those paying attention.

The fake news story was caught within 5 minutes, but by then, the price had spiked significantly.