At 9:30 a.m. ET, a press release from “Walmart Inc” dropped today claiming that the company was partnering with Litecoin to begin accepting the 2016-era crypto darling at its retail locations. The news, seemingly fishy, was nonetheless reported as true by nearly every crypto outlet and numerous mainstream outlets, as well. In today’s episode, NLW breaks down:

• What happened and how the news spread
• The context clues in the release that should have aroused suspicion
• The smoking guns of fakeness in the release that REALLY should have aroused suspicion
• Why the scam was designed to target press
• Why the ensuing pump is likely to draw regulatory ire.

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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: David Swanson/Bloomberg/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.