AMAZON TO BEGIN ACCEPTING BITCOIN IN OCTOBER
According to a newsletter from The James Altucher Report, Amazon is to start accepting Bitcoin in the coming weeks. Amazon is expected to announce this move as early as 26th October.After the launch of Purse.io’s Android app, enabling billions to shop on Amazon with Bitcoin, a petition was signed for CEO Amazon.com Jeff Bezos to begin accepting cryptocurrencies as an alternate payment method and according to reports; more than 9000 petitioners have already signed the campaign. The demand doesn’t stop here as some also believe that the e-commerce major should extend support for Litecoin as well. The Change.org petition shows that people are becoming more comfortable spending cryptocurrencies to purchase goods and services.Although, Amazon in 2016 did partner with Digital Currency Group with its Web Services (Digital Currency Group is one of the biggest investors in Bitcoin and blockchain-based startups) yet people were speculative about it as it was believed that Amazon might introduce its own digital currency rather than using bitcoin.However, Amazon wouldn’t be the first one to try and offer their users a faster way of paying for their services, and neither would they be the first giant company to support Bitcoin. eBay, PayPal and after some back and forth, Apple, all decided to slot in the currency into their operations, including the giant satellite company, Dish Network.Even though Amazon doesn’t accept Bitcoin at the moment, shoppers can still indirectly use the cryptocurrency by purchasing gift cards and cashing it on the platform.
There are many assumptions about the security and reliability of using bitcoin as an alternative payment method. Well, bitcoin offers a lot than just assumptions:
- Low transaction costs
- Decentralized currency (Thanks to decentralized cryptocurrency mining)
- Low Inflation (Because of the finite supply of Bitcoins (this mostly benefits the consumer))
- Bitcoin is accessible to any person of any age, sex, demographic, etc. (it is extremely advantageous to citizens of crisis countries)
- Non-reversible payments (Extremely beneficial to reputable companies such as Amazon.com)
- Bitcoins are extremely secure (Bitcoins reside in an encrypted format on the wallet they are kept in)
Later in the day, new details started immerging:
AMAZON TO ACCEPT BITCOIN: FAKE NEWS?
The news of Amazon enabling customers to use their bitcoins to make their transactions seems to be just a speculation.The rumor arose through a recent report on squawker.org, some reviews have indicated that the company would have a financial reason to do so, but no certified statement has been made so far.The squawker.org editorial mentions a reference in investor James Altucher’s newsletter. Altucher is a skilled trader who many believe could have pre-statement information. The article comments:
“James Altucher has (co)founded more than 20 companies, authored 11 books, and has been a contributor to several major publications. He is a former hedge fund manager and venture capitalist turned activist blogger/podcaster and offers a subscription based mailing list – the source of the Amazon information.”
Recent details suggest that James Altucher never wrote about “Amazon to accept Bitcoin by October 26th” instead, it’s written that “Amazon will accept BTC someday” and that could be announced by their next report.
He then discussed the existing partnership between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and DCG. He stated that an Amazon leader confirmed that connection, not that Amazon will accept the Bitcoin.
This is not the first time we see gossips regarding Amazon and cryptocurrency payments. It would be a desired change to see this happen. After all, the world’s major online retailer accommodating the only global payment method would produce some interesting results. Unfortunately, this is just a hopeful thinking right now. This will not change anytime soon, regardless of what the sources may assert.
A few days ago, a petition was put up on Change.org to force Amazon to accept Litecoin payments. While a creative idea, it never materialized either. It is obvious that Jeff Bozes has big plans for his top firm, but crypto-currency isn’t part of it. That doesn’t mean Jeff Bezos himself is crypto-opposed.
It doesn’t make much sense for Amazon to venture into cryptocurrency right now. The market simply is too new, and it is still a very niche payment method at best.
Statements like these will generate a lot of resistance among the cryptocurrency users, though. Rumors like this will create a lot of frustration when it doesn’t come true. Most people are well aware of how the chances of Amazon accepting Bitcoin are basically nil right now. That doesn’t mean things won’t change in the future. However, for now, it will not happen at all. There is nothing wrong with fantasizing, but we have to keep both feet on the ground as well.
The need of the hour is for the cryptocurrency to draw more and more dealers and vendors. Some companies dropped Bitcoin funding earlier this year. Few people use cryptocurrency for actual purchases.
While no one doubts Bitcoin transaction value as a whole, a small percentage of this money is used to pay bills and purchases.
Whether or not to see this state change in a substantial manner remains to be imagined.
This post was originally posted in kryptency.com