While no official comment has been released by Amazon on when or if they plan on entering the cryptocurrency space, it appears they’ve been making moves. CNBC was first to break the news Amazon acquired several cryptocurrency domain names including amazoncryptocurrency.com, amazonethereum.com, and amazoncryptocurrencies.com. It appears they own amazonbitcoin.com as well.
We personally double-checked these domain registrations through Whois, and were able to verify these domains were purchased by Amazon Technologies, Inc. on October 31, 2017.
What does this all mean for Amazon and the cryptocurrency space in general? It’s too early to tell what Amazon plans to do with these domains. According to CNBC, Amazon could be protecting its brand by purchasing these domains. It seems Amazon did just that when they purchased AmazonBitcoin.com three years ago. Today, the address redirects to Amazon’s main site.
The speculation has existed for years as to if and when Amazon would be accepting Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as payment methods on their website and at point-of-sale terminals at traditional retailers they also own. As these rumors circulate, the price of Bitcoin seems to skyrocket with each new rumor or piece of speculation related to Amazon. However, time and time again, Amazon has repeated they do not feel the demand is high enough to accept Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as a payment methods yet.
As for us, we hope to see Amazon utilize Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a payment method, but also, perhaps, we hope to maybe one day see Amazon start its own exchange similar to Coinbase or Gemini. According to a March 2017 report on Statista.com, Amazon receives over 183 Million visitors each month and is the top US retail site. Amazon is already in the position to be the most trafficked cryptocurrency exchange if it were to enter that space, just based on the sheer volume of traffic alone.
In order for the cryptocurrency industry to jump to new heights, Internet giants like Amazon need to hop on board. Time and the price of Bitcoin will only tell when and if Amazon and others decide to go crypto, but the pressure is certainly on them to enter the industry to leverage their reach, bring innovation to the space, and influence mass adoption through targeting new audiences.
