Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of Overbit News, as always.
In our first story of the week, we look at a unique development for Litecoin, one of the world's largest cryptocurrencies.
On Monday, the price of Litecoin rose by up to 20% after a bogus press release on GlobeNewswire stated that Walmart would begin accepting Litecoin as payment.
According to the site, the fake announcement was submitted to GlobeNewswire by a false user account, and the press release led to a non-functional website, with no sign of any Securities and Exchange Commission filing, which would have been expected given Walmart's public stock.
Several news outlets published reports based on the bogus press release, and the price of Litecoin and the prices of other cryptocurrencies surged briefly before falling back to previous levels. It's unclear who was behind the fake press release, but a Walmart official admitted to CNBC that it was a hoax.
In a letter to The Verge, Dave Pleiss, vice president, investor and public relations at GlobeNewswire, stated that this had never happened before to the company.
"When GlobeNewswire discovered this morning that an illegal news release was created using a bogus user account, we immediately retracted the press release and issued a Notice to Disregard."
Overall, this phoney announcement demonstrates how immature the overall crypto market is compared to legacy markets and constantly verifying the source of news related to an investment.
As we move on to our next story of the week, The Interactive Brokers Group, a global brokerage firm, announced today the launch of cryptocurrency trading, allowing clients to trade and custody Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash through Paxos Trust Company.
Customers of IBKR will be able to trade cryptocurrencies alongside other asset classes available on the Interactive Brokers platform through Paxos, resulting in a more unified user experience. Previously, investors used various trading platforms from multiple brokers and exchanges to trade cryptocurrencies and other asset classes.
A significant distinction is that many cryptocurrency exchanges charge fees of up to 2% per trade, in addition to any spreads or price markups. Cryptocurrency trading with Paxos on the Interactive Brokers platform has low commissions of 0.12 per cent - 0.18 per cent of trade value, depending on monthly volume, and a USD 1.75 minimum per order, ensuring that it will launch as a competitive product in the market.
Paxos CEO and Co-Founder Charles Cascarilla stated, "Consumer interest in gaining access to digital assets via trusted intermediaries is causing a shift in the financial industry. Paxos provides regulated blockchain infrastructure to ensure that enterprises can enable crypto in a safe and risk-free manner. Because of our partnership with Interactive Brokers, experienced investors now have fast, dependable access to the digital economy for the first time."
While initially available only to US citizens with individual or joint accounts, Interactive Brokers intends to expand cryptocurrency trading to include Financial Advisors and customers from other industries.
Thank you for reading Overbit News, as always. Until next time, take care!