American grocer Kroger says Bitcoin Cash press release was fraudulent
A fraudulent statement claimed that Bitcoin Cash would be accepted at over 2,000 grocery stores in the United States.
Disclaimer: This article initially reported that Kroger would accept Bitcoin Cash. It has since been amended following new information.
American grocery store chain Kroger has denied claims that it is accepting cryptocurrency payments.
The major retailer said that a press release stating it would accept Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at all of its stores, as well as for online purchases, was a hoax.
According to Reuters, Kroger is the second retailer to recently fall victim to such a scam.
Kroger has previously dabbled in the cryptocurrency space; in 2020, the firm began to offer Bitcoin (BTC) rewards at its store through crypto-based rewards platform Lolli.
Crypto has gradually found its way into the grocery store vertical in various forms. In 2019, Safeway — another major American grocery chain — began offering Bitcoin rewards through Lolli, similar to Kroger.
Earlier this summer, crypto ATM firm Coin Cloud announced it was preparing to install machines in 29 H-E-B supermarket locations in Houston, Texas.
Cryptocurrencies’ underlying blockchain technology has also been slated to play an important role in the grocery industry. A 2019 study by research firm Gartner predicted that 20% of the top 10 global grocers will be using blockchains by 2025.
