Amazon Refutes Rumors Of Bitcoin Acceptance For Payments

Amazon is refuting claims made by a London newspaper that said the eCommerce behemoth would start accepting payments in bitcoin before the year is out, Reuters reported on Tuesday (July 27).

London’s City A.M. newspaper reported on Monday (July 26) that not only were Amazon’s bitcoin plans “pretty much ready to roll,” the company also had the wheels in motion to introduce its own virtual currency in 2022. The article cited an unnamed source who was an “insider.”

“Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true,” an Amazon spokesperson told Reuters. “We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping on Amazon.”

The newspaper article from London’s City A.M. was partly responsible for triggering a 14. 5 percent surge in bitcoin prices that closed out for the day with 6 percent in gains at  $37,684.04, per Reuters.

Bitcoin hit a high on Monday (July 26) that topped $39,000, a price not seen since mid-June. The digital currency had dipped below $30,000. Bitcoin’s price escalation gave the entire cryptocurrency market a boost, adding over $100 billion in less than a day.

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk said at The B-Word Conference last Wednesday (July 21) that the electric car maker would start accepting bitcoin payments once again after dropping the payment method in May over the extensive energy waste during mining. Now that a renewable energy source is being used, bitcoin is back on the table for car purchases.

Amazon’s interest in crypto became evident with a job posting last Friday (July 23) seeking a digital currency and blockchain expert for its payments team. The closest avenue Amazon currently comes to cryptocurrency is a service referred to as managed blockchain, which is part of its Amazon Web Services unit.