A number of mainstream news outlets have reported that Amazon has hired ex-FCA officials- suggesting the launch of their digital currency is in sight. While the Amazon digital currency would not be a blockchain-based cryptocurrency,
The British newspaper The Telegraph recently revealed that Amazon recruited several specialists from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a sign that the multinational is preparing for the launch of its digital currency.
While Amazon has remained tight-lipped about the launch of its digital currency, the decision to go ahead with a digital currency would signify a big leap for digital currencies, with a potential to make digital currencies ‘mainstream’.
If the recruitment of ex-FCA officials is anything to go by, Amazon’s launch of a digital currency would be equipped to navigate the currently murky waters of digital currency regulation. A new division was recently created by Amazon, Digital and Emerging Payments (DEP), which will allow users to “convert cash into digital currency” for spending on services like Amazon’s retail service and Amazon Prime Video.
The company’s current CEO Jeff Bezos has been rumoured a number of times to own cryptocurrency, however has never publicly confirmed this. As Bezos will be standing down as CEO of June this year, his replacement Mr Jassy, and current CEO of Amazon Web Services, has been tipped as being much more open to the potential of blockchain technology. At a 2017 Amazon ‘Re:Invent’ conference Jassy said he and his team were interested in blockchain.
However, this is not necessarily an indication that Amazon would take their existing blockchain services beyond their current limited number of blockchain applications. If Amazon were to integrate digital currency or cryptocurrencies onto its platform, it would follow the likes of Facebook and the prospective launch of their Diem stablecoin.
In the meanwhile, a petition has been created by the Dogecoin community to ask Amazon to accept Dogecoin as a form of payment. The petition currently has over 200,000 signatures, and asks that Amazon be one the first major companies to accept the cryptocurrency. While it is unlikely that Amazon would list the controversial cryptocurrency, the petition is just a small example of the demand for mainstream platforms to accept cryptocurrency.
If Amazon goes ahead with their digital currency, it has been suggested by some that it could be a potential rival to Bitcoin, as the dominant cryptocurrency. While the whole project remains highly secretive, the launch of a digital currency by the largest online retailer in the world, would certainly cause waves in the crypto market.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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