My last article was about ancient ghost stories, and I planned to follow up on that today. However, research is taking a little longer than I anticipated, so I decided to follow up instead on a different article in which I bemoaned the lack of marketplaces where one can buy things with crypto or sell things with crypto.
In it, I lamented that Amazon didn't accept crypto, but someone on Reddit pointed out that Amazon had been laying the groundwork for doing something with it.
Here's what we know:
Amazon owns a domain called amazonbitcoin.com. They apparently own other crypto-related domains as well.
Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon.com, launched the Amazon Managed Blockchain service as AWS – in interesting maneuver from a company that resists accepting Bitcoin payment.
Amazon is hiring for a digital currency project in Mexico that will reportedly allow customers to pay for purchases with crypto.
Here's what we don't know:
Is Amazon planning on doing what Paypal has done in allowing people to purchase crypto but not actually own their own wallet or have the rights to transfer to another wallet, such as Coinbase?
Is Amazon perhaps working on its own coin that it means to push when crypto payments become acceptable?
Possible Theories
My gut instinct when I first came across this information was that Amazon was going to follow in Paypal's footsteps. When Paypal first announced that it was going into crypto, I thought, “So, this means we can send and receive BTC and stuff through Paypal now?”
Alas, Paypal simply meant that, much like the Robinhood app or (unless I'm mistaken) CashApp, in that people are allowed to buy crypto, but whether they actually own it or are just investing in like like a stock is debatable. You don't have your own wallet or keys, nor can you send it anywhere; it just sits there until you decide it's worth it to sell it.
This is a strange move on their part, as many in the crypto sphere don't seem happy with Paypal's options, and given that the company is owned by eBay, wouldn't it make more sense to instead allow customers to pay with crypto on that platform?
The Mexican project gives me hope, though. Amazon will definitely be making the transition to allowing people to pay for things with crypto, but I still have some questions.
According to one job post, “This product will enable customers to convert their cash into digital currency using which customers can enjoy online services including shopping for goods and/or services like Prime Video,”
This tells me that Amazon will be accepting digital currency as payment, but doesn't say which currency or whether I can, for example, move BCH from my wallet here directly to Amazon and use it as payment.
So, there are a few possibilities here.
Theory 1: Amazon will be going just one step further than Paypal.
Unlike Paypal, which doesn't allow you to do anything with the crypto once you've bought it, other than selling it, that is, Amazon will at least allow you to use it on their website. That brings us one step further than Paypal, even if they don't allow you to actually transfer crypto into or out of your Amazon wallet, provided Amazon even gives you the keys to your wallet.
I can see why Amazon may not want you paying for anything from your own wallet. They likely want to make sure any payments are definitely coming from you so you can't cry “fraud!” in the future. There are no chargebacks in crypto, after all.
Theory 2: Amazon is developing its own coin.
This could be why Amazon plans to roll its project out in Mexico, for that would allow the coin to gain some value before being rolled out to the rest of the world. This would also allow Amazon to ensure that the coin is spent on its platform alone.
Theory 3: Amazon is going whole-hog in adopting crypto payments.
Perhaps Amazon, much like sites such as Coinpayments and BitPay, will come to support multiple cryptocurrencies. You'll be able to purchase via fiat on-site if you want, but you can also import currency from an external wallet and vice versa. As Amazon has 47% of the eCommerce market, this would be the first mainstream shop to allow cryptopayments. Perhaps they would be seen as a more viable currency in such a case.
A Possible Problem
There are a few things that would make Amazon be hesitant to accept crypto, particularly Bitcoin itself. Aside from the obvious technical hurdle, there's Bitcoin's perceived lack of scalability. Lightning Network will probably help this problem, but Amazon could still be concerned about it.
Let Me Know What You Think
I'm new enough to this sphere that I could well be missing something. If that's the case, please educate me. Otherwise, I would love to know what everyone here thinks of this bit of news. What do you think Amazon is planning?
