The cryptocurrency market is filled with various fake news, from early pranks to professional market manipulation. This article reviews significant fake news events over the past decade, analyzing their evolution and profound impact on the market. (Background: The People's Bank of China has requested financial institutions to include 'blockchain + AI' as part of the 'infrastructure') (Additional Background: Trump angrily criticizes Intel CEO Chen Lifang: Must step down for being too close to China!) The cryptocurrency market has its own 'wolf is coming' story. On August 3, the well-known foreign financial news platform First Squawk released a message on social media: 'China has officially banned cryptocurrency trading, mining, and related services due to financial risks, capital outflow issues, and environmental impact.' Major overseas financial accounts with millions of followers, such as Investing.com and Rawsalerts, successively retweeted this unverified 'breaking news.' Clearly, citing China's ban on cryptocurrency has become a 'traditional art' of fake news in the cryptocurrency market. In the comments section of this news, there was a humorous remark: Grok, tell me, how many times has China banned cryptocurrency now? The old investors have long been aesthetically fatigued by such fake news, and the price of Bitcoin has long been immune to such fake news. However, there is indeed an absurd cycle in the cryptocurrency market where a highly influential piece of fake news appears every now and then. You may be immune to the cycle of China's ban, but you may not be immune to the emergence of all fake news. When enough people believe that a piece of fake news will affect the price, it will indeed affect the price. China's 'ban' is just the tip of the iceberg of how the entire cryptocurrency market is affected by fake news. Looking back at the entire development history of the cryptocurrency market, those heavyweight pieces of fake news have also genuinely impacted the direction of cryptocurrency assets; and behind a piece of fake news, you can even see a hidden information dissemination chain. Chronicle of Cryptocurrency Fake News: From Amateur to Professional, Key Events Summary 2017: The Death of Vitalik, The First Lie in the Blockchain World If a history of cryptocurrency fake news is to be written, June 26, 2017, must be a milestone. That afternoon, a message appeared on the well-known foreign forum 4chan: 'Vitalik Buterin has died in a car accident.' No source, no evidence, not even any decent details. Yet, this crude rumor triggered the first market crash in cryptocurrency history caused by fake news within the next few hours. At that time, ETH dropped from $317 to $216 in 6 hours, a decline of nearly 32%. The Reddit r/ethtrader forum was filled with posts asking, 'Is it true?' 'Can anyone confirm?' In Telegram groups, holders debated whether they should sell immediately. About 10 hours after the rumor spread, Vitalik himself posted a photo on Twitter holding the day's Ethereum block number and hash value to refute the rumor, proving he was still alive through the blockchain itself. Vitalik is still here, but your position might not be. The market's response at that time revealed a cruel truth: in the early wild west of the cryptocurrency world, the destructive power of an anonymous post could be comparable to an official announcement. Early fake news creators were mostly amateur players. They either created so-called insider groups on Telegram or posted in forums like 4chan. It was a market with extremely asymmetric information, where retail investors were groping in the dark, and any slight movement could trigger a stampede. Fake news during this period was more like pranks from a few individuals, linked to the founders of projects; the market directly tied the personal safety of the founders to the survival of the projects. 2018: Goldman Sachs Error, Wall Street Abandons Bitcoin And when fake news donned a suit, the destructive power of professional 'exclusive news' was even greater. On September 5, 2018, the cryptocurrency market was under the shadow of a bear market. At this sensitive moment, the well-known American business site Business Insider published a report with a headline that hit the nail on the head: 'Goldman Sachs Puts Cryptocurrency Trading Desk Plan on Hold.' The so-called 'Trading Desk' is a department in investment banks for buying and selling specific financial products for clients. If Goldman Sachs really set up a cryptocurrency trading desk, it would mean that its institutional clients could buy and sell Bitcoin through Goldman Sachs, which was seen at the time as an important milestone for cryptocurrency gaining mainstream recognition; and 'putting on hold' hinted at the abandonment of cryptocurrency. The next day, the plot took a turn. Goldman Sachs CFO Martin Chavez was asked about this at the TechCrunch conference, and his answer left everyone dumbfounded: 'I was still wondering when I made this decision yesterday? This is fake news.' But the clarification came too late. In that 24-hour panic, a large number of investors had already cut their positions and left the market. According to Cointelegraph's report at the time, Bitcoin and other digital currencies plummeted in price after this so-called fake news originating from an 'insider,' with the total market value dropping by $12 billion within an hour, of which Bitcoin fell more than 6% that day. 2021: Walmart and Litecoin Fake Cooperation, Early Signs of News Trading If earlier fake news could still be seen as misunderstandings or oversights, then the fake news on September 13, 2021, regarding Walmart's cooperation with Litecoin was a premeditated crime. On that day at 9:30 AM, one of the world's largest press release distribution services, GlobeNewswire, released an announcement. The headline was striking: 'Walmart Announces Major Partnership with Litecoin.' The press release was well-crafted, containing all the elements of a professional press release: Walmart's official logo, detailed cooperation plans, quotes from executives, and even contact information for the investor relations department. The press release claimed that starting October 1, all of Walmart's e-commerce sites would offer the option to 'pay with Litecoin.' It also quoted Walmart CEO Doug McMillon as saying, 'Cryptocurrency will play an important role in our digital strategy.' Subsequently, some crypto media rushed to report this information, and most critically, the official Twitter account of the Litecoin Foundation retweeted this news. At a time when there was no 'coin-stock linkage' play and cryptocurrency had not yet gone mainstream, the market's reaction was explosive. The price of Litecoin began to soar, and trading volume surged. Mainstream media also joined the dissemination chain: CNBC and Reuters reported successively; by 10:30 that day, the price of Litecoin reached its peak, increasing by over 30%. However, just as the market was in a frenzy, Walmart's PR team discovered the anomaly. They urgently verified and issued a statement: this was a false message; Walmart had no partnership with Litecoin. After the news reversal, the price of Litecoin plummeted like a free fall. But for the manipulators behind the scenes, the game was already over. Subsequent investigations revealed that 48 hours before the fake news was released, there had been abnormal bullish options trading on Litecoin in the market. The manipulators profited millions of dollars from this scheme through meticulous planning, from registering similar domains and creating fake press releases to choosing the right timing for release and utilizing official accounts for endorsement, each step was meticulously calculated...

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