Bitcoin [BTC] climbed to $40K which, in turn, induced a rally in the rest of the cryptocurrency market rallied. As a result, the cumulative valuation soared to $1.51 trillion after a period of prolonging rangebound movement. The bullish impetus was, however, short-lived and saw a sharp reversal and after Amazon addressed rumors about its plans to accept Bitcoin payments by the end of the year. The e-commerce giant flatly denied the London tabloid report.
Amazon manages hundreds of billions of dollars in transactions every year. This makes the multinational firm a huge rostrum for cryptocurrency to make a debut as legal tender. Hence, the news ignited frenzied anticipation for the company’s purported crypto plans. The price climbed on speculation that Bitcoin might be accepted for Amazon purchases which soon flipped negative after the company’s clarification.
An Amazon spokesperson was quoted saying,
“Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true. We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping on Amazon.”
Not Bitcoin yet, but Amazon will explore crypto and blockchain
Despite rejecting the rumors about supporting Bitcoin payments the spokesperson confirmed that the e-commerce giant was still very much interested in the cryptocurrency space and is currently testing waters. This was evident from a previous report wherein Amazon posted a job opening for a ‘digital currency and blockchain product lead.
Amazon’s spokesperson also said that the company has been “inspired” by the innovation happening in the cryptocurrency sector and is exploring what significance this market holds for it while citing the need for new technologies that facilitate modern, fast, and inexpensive payments.
Over the past couple of months, sever companies have come forward and have started to accept digital currencies for payment. This has helped Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to seep into the mainstream conversation since up until a few years ago, the entire asset class was shunned by major financial institutions.
Most notably, the market noted a fresh boost after Tesla Chief Elon Musk asserted that the electric-car maker is gearing up to resume accepting Bitcoin as payment.