What's going on: Bitcoin is more popular than ever. 2017 was the year for cryptocurrencies to become mainstream. Optimists predict an even better outlook for 2018, because they expect big money pouring in and more old school investors jumping on board. But what could – despite the usual bubble-chit-chat – really hurt Bitcoin? Before you say "nothing, Bitcoin is unstoppable" take a moment to think about one of the biggest boys on the internet: Amazon.
Amazon is the fourth most valuable public company globally, it's the largest internet company by revenue in the world, doing business around the world and it accounts for almost half of all US online purchases. And the tech giant is known to be a friend of innovative scaling solutions.
So why is it not accepting cryptocurrencies yet? One of the main reasons are the limited transaction speeds of for example Bitcoin (7 transactions per second) or Ethereum (15 transactions per second). Just to put this in context: Amazon peaked at around 600 transactions per second (!) during it's prime sale 2017. But: One of the few cryptocurrencies who are able to handle this workload Amazon needs is Ripple, which has been tested at transaction speeds as high as 1500 transactions per second.
There are a couple of possible ways this could play out:
1. Amazon stay's away from cryptocurrencies
Unlikely, but possible.
2. Amazon uses a competitor of Bitcoin
Bitcoin is primarily used as an investment. It's original use case is not possible at the moment, due to technical limitations and high transaction fees. This could change in 2018 with the implementation of the Lightning Network. If this doesn't happen and Amazon decides to get going with crypto, it could hurt Bitcoin significantly. Plus you have to consider the meteoric rise of the crypto that announces and official partnership with Amazon.
3. Amazon creates it's own cryptocurrency
Amazon has an history with getting into difficult new territory and conquering it in a short time span. Just think of it's highly successful endeavours in cloud storage, video streaming or hardware offerings. If it sees potential in the cryptocurrency space it has the technical resources, the manpower and the will to break into it.
Why should I care: Amazon's main philosophy is consumer obsession. As long as consumers want it and it benefits their user experience, Amazon will consider and eventually deliver it. The way it will handle it's approach to cryptocurrencies could play a crucial role in the future of Bitcoin and the crypto space in general.
Source: hackernoon.com
GIF: giphy.com
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