Turner Wright
The price of Litecoin rose to more than $237 this morning following erroneous reports from major news outlets that U.S. retailer Walmart would be introducing a payment option for the cryptocurrency on all its eCommerce websites.
CNBC, Reuters, Decrypt and others reported on Monday that Walmart planned to have a “Pay with Litecoin Option” for its retail websites starting on Oct. 1 as part of a partnership with the Litecoin Foundation, the organization financing and promoting adoption of the Litecoin (LTC) ecosystem. The reports seemed to spawn from a single press release through distribution service GlobeNewsWire. The release claimed Walmart chose to adopt LTC for payments based on its “cheaper and faster” features and the token having “no central authority.”
However, according to CNBC, a Walmart spokesperson confirmed the press release was “not authentic” roughly an hour after the initial report broke. The Litecoin Foundation's director of marketing Jay Milla also told Cointelegraph the announcement did not come from the foundation.
"The Litecoin Foundation has yet to enter into a partnership with Walmart," said Milla.
Marie Huillet
North American retail giant Walmart is looking for an experienced crypto expert who can develop and drive an ambitious digital currency strategy and product roadmap.
In the listing for the role, Walmart indicates it is looking for someone who has a track record in leading and scaling businesses, with at least 10 years of experience in product/program management and technology-based product commercialization. The ideal candidate should have expertise in cryptocurrencies and blockchain-related technologies and in-depth knowledge of the crypto ecosystem and its core actors.
Walmart has hinted at the focus of its future digital currency strategy by noting that it already enables a “broad set of payment options for its customers” — although not yet in cryptocurrency. Back in 2019, Walmart had already filed a patent for a blockchain-based United States dollar-backed digital currency that was, at the time, similar to Facebook’s early proposals for what was then known as Libra.
This year, Walmart created a fintech venture called “Hazel,” which could reportedly be poised to offer a wide range of financial services integrated into a “mobile-first ‘super-app.‘”
Helen Partz
The government of El Salvador will reportedly exempt investors from paying a capital gains tax and an income tax on Bitcoin (BTC), according to a presidential legal counsel. Javier Argueta, a legal adviser to President Nayib Bukele, is looking to encourage foreign investment through major tax breaks on Bitcoin, Agence France-Presse reported Sept. 10.
“If a person has assets in Bitcoin and makes high profits, there will be no tax. This is done obviously to encourage foreign investment,” Argueta said, adding that El Salvador will impose no taxes on “either the capital increase or the income.”
Argueta reportedly noted that the Salvadoran government would be actively tracing Bitcoin transactions on El Salvador’s official BTC wallet, Chivo, to combat the potentially illegal use of the cryptocurrency. “We are implementing a series of recommendations from international institutions against money laundering,” he said.
The Chivo wallet would also temporarily halt Bitcoin transactions on the application if Bitcoin value collapsed to minimize the impact of extreme volatility or price fluctuations.
This Daily Dose was brought to you by Cointelegraph.
