The crypto world has been going crazy over the last few days with the news that Amazon will start to accept Bitcoin in 2021. Ethereum and others will reportedly join once the system is perfected. Now, I know there have been a lot of articles written on this since the news broke, but I am going to play Devil’s Advocate and point out some issues I am seeing from the announcement.
First, let’s dig a little deeper. This information comes from a “source.” No doubt Jeff Bezos put the exact words in this source’s mouth to say, though. It is a whole lot easier to get the exact message you want across by using a source. This way there are no questions that can be asked and Amazon can just deny anything they want to or say no comment, if that works better. Even so, they source went on to say something that is not getting talked about near as much, see below from an Apple Insider article:
Once Amazon has sorted out cryptocurrency payments, the source said Amazon will "push things even further" in its favor with "a native token." It is thought the token could help produce a "multi-level infrastructure where you can pay for goods and services or earn tokens in a loyalty scheme."
We should not forget that Amazon has a long history of using people and companies to get what they want and then tossing them away. Could this be the plan with Bitcoin? Use the popular cryptocurrency to test the waters, sort out the regulations and IRS issues and then drop it for its own token? If you think Bitcoin has tanked in the past when Musk said something, watch what happens when Amazon comes out and says they don’t think BTC works for them anymore and you should use their token instead.
Next, you should think about just how much money Amazon can lose on a project and not even blink an eye. This is not just some me talking about how much money the big corporate monster has, but, rather I am pointing out that they have a history of bad moves. Amazon just has the capital to do it. This is not a bad thing, either. This is how innovation happens at large companies, they can try and do a lot of projects and only need some to succeed. Do not take my word for it, though, here are just a few losers from Amazon:
Crucible: A multiplayer video game that lost millions and has now been pulled.
Haven: Their attempt at a joint health venture with JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway.
Amazon Spark: An Instagram type shopping experience.
Quids: Amazon bought this company for 545 million in 2010 and shut it down in 2017.
Fire Phone: A 170 million dollar write off.
And you can find dozens of other failed multimillion-dollar Amazon ventures that didn’t even phase the retail giant. So, beware that Amazon is ok if this doesn’t work, and you should be ok with it, too.
My third thought, since I write a lot about the upcoming regulation, is that this will put Washington on the fast track to controlling crypto. They can’t let a company like Amazon do something like this without having their say. Don’t think there is not a suicide switch they can pull. You can find a lot of articles from some high-profile people that are simply asking for governments to ban crypto and end all of this. If something is going to force the government’s hand, it is Amazon getting involved.
Finally, I will go full conspiracy theory on you. Do we really know that Amazon, or unnamed partners, didn’t buy a whole lot of BTC at 30,000 and are pulling a huge pump and dump? Just throwing it out there.
Thanks for reading and sleep with one eye open.