When was it – back in 2017? We heard rumours that Amazon was moving closer to entering the world of alt-coin/crypto-currency launch.
Prior to November 2017 the marketing and tech giant had previously procured amazonbitcoin.com in 2013 along with other related domain names but never used them other than as redirects.
Then suddenly in mid-November there was news that they had bought up various domain names including the URLs amazoncryptocurrencies.com, amazoncryptocurrency.com and amazonethereum.com – causing the speculation to start up once again.
Despite these brief ‘flurries’ or flirtations with the edges of alt-currency even today Amazon have yet to accept bitcoin as an accepted method of payment.
So what, if anything, is going on here?
Well, what we do know is that post-2017 Amazon has collaborated in establishing various block chain-based experimental platforms – the AWS marketplace has a fuller and more up to date listing.
Many of these experimental platforms provide protocols, tools and templates to speedily undertake complex transactions for users to develop, build and manage their own block chain powered projects or apps without the time-consuming operation of having to first create their own block chain networks.
Realising that there are over 300,000,000 (and counting) Amazon accounts in operation today giving the company a market share of over 40% of all sales online and on top of this that Amazon ships more than 12,000,000 different products throughout their international marketplace it is easy to understand that supply chain optimisation is top of their priority list.
Moving on and in light of this, their investment in block chain solutions for, amongst other applications, supply chain management is readily understood.
Their complex distribution network needs a block chain system that can carry the associated transactions which will reliably and speedily log them every step of the way to ensure an enhanced resolution of order recording, tracking, and fulfilment.
Given Amazon’s careful steps to date and their fondness for in-house solutions, it’s highly likely that if the platform were to integrate a cryptocurrency solution it would be a built upon an exclusive and completely private Amazon block chain which would function as an Amazon-specific cryptocurrency.
This in all probability explains why, much to the dismay and pressure of many, to date Amazon has held off accepting crypto-currencies as a form of payment. Why would they when, in-house at least, they know they are but a few short steps away from launching their own?
And, of course, they have their own ready-made Amazon Coin, currently for internal use as little more than a gift card, to piggy back on should they decide to expand that model outside Amazon.
When you start putting the pieces of the puzzle together it’s not a huge stretch to see the final picture as it surely will be.
So - my money is on their money hitting the headlines in the very near future. What do you think?
https://www.ccn.com/amazon-jeff-bezos-build-bitcoin-exchange