Amazon.com Inc is going to start accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method as soon as this year. A recent job offering at Amazon’s Payments Acceptance & Experience team is showing signs of the retail giant to start considering cryptocurrency as a payment method this year.
The company is “seeking an experienced product leader to develop Amazon’s Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap”. It wants to “develop the case for the capabilities which should be developed, drive the overall vision and product strategy, and gain leadership buy-in and investment for new capabilities”.
An insider, speaking to London business newspaper City AM said that his move reveals Amazon’s intention to go beyond just exploration of cryptocurrencies’ possibilities. The source said that by the end of this year, Amazon will be ready to accept BTC payments.
“This isn’t just going through the motions to set up cryptocurrency payment solutions at some point in the future – this is a full-on, well-discussed, integral part of the future mechanism of how Amazon will work. It begins with Bitcoin – this is the key first stage of this crypto project, and the directive is coming from the very top… Jeff Bezos himself.”
Just few years back in 2017, Amazon Web Services Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy, confirmed the company’s focus did not include blockchain technology. However, he acknowledged that Amazon was “watching it carefully”.
An Amazon digital currency
Amazon is not only bullish to accept BTC payments. The global powerhouse is also considering launching if its own digital currency. The latest job posting for Digital Currency and Blockchain Product Lead only confirms this. The unnamed source said that the “entire project is pretty much ready to roll”
“When all these crypto ducks are lined up, there’s another twist to push things even further into Amazon’s favor – a native token. … You can guarantee the Bitcoin plan will be monitored closely as opportunities with Amazon’s own version of a crypto will be explored.”
While it has not received much attention, Amazon has already effectively launched its first virtual currency back in 2013. Their Amazon Coin offers users discounts on purchases on Kindles and Fire tablets. Ofcourse, should the company introduce a new token, it will be entirely different.
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Source: Igaming
