Status Quo on Amazon Cryptocurrency Development

In July 2021, the US internet sales behemoth Amazon shook the crypto market after letting out a blockchain and cryptocurrency lead job advertisement.

The ad specified that the company wanted someone to develop the case for crypto, drive the vision and product strategy, and gain leadership buy-in and investment.

According to sources, the directive for this advertisement came from the headman - Jeff Bezos himself - and it meant more than merely looking into options. Allegedly, Bezos was (and still is) interested in implementing cryptocurrencies into Amazon's business, particularly Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and Bitcoin Cash. After that, according to reports, the company would develop its native token as well.

Still, even though there were plenty of rumors, they were never officially confirmed. Amazon did, however, hint that it plans to jump into the creation of Amazon cryptocurrency, and the year 2022 was on everybody's mouth.

Who will be Amazon’s Crypto Head?

According to the job ad, the company searched for "an experienced product leader" to develop a roadmap for Amazon blockchain and cryptocurrency strategy.

It stated that the successful candidate would leverage expertise in blockchain, distributed ledger, central bank digital currencies, and cryptocurrency to drive the concept forward.

This step seems logical since other big fintech companies, such as Facebook, Visa, and Google, also recruited whole teams of experts charged with creating a new blockchain and crypto-related workspace.

When Could Amazon Launch?

As we already mentioned, there were no official details on Amazon's possible launch date. However, 2022 was the year everyone mentioned when discussing the digital currency that would be standing shoulder to shoulder with Bitcoin and Ethereum.

There is already something called Amazon Coin; a virtual currency that can be bought on Amazon's website and then be used to purchase apps, games, and in-app items from the Amazon Appstore. Each Amazon Coin is worth $0.01 and can be bought in cheaper stacks on the Appstore app, Fire tablets, and the Amazon website. Still, it is not an Amazon cryptocurrency, per se, since these coins are non-refundable after purchase.

In the case of the actual company's cryptocurrency, the users should use it to shop on the Amazon website, trade with it, and, eventually, exchange it for other tokens.

Nowadays, the global finance industry deals with trillions of dollars daily, serving billions of users. However, the whole sector has problems with bureaucracy, high costs, frequent fraud, and constant delays. Third parties such as payment networks, stock exchanges, and money transfer services deal with crime daily. Therefore, the costs of regulation are rising as end-users ultimately bear the burden.

Amazon to Sell NFTs Soon

Amazon admitted mulling similar projects in the past, even though these projects were rather understated than the one which wraps the Amazon cryptocurrency nowadays.

Amazon already has 'Amazon Managed Blockchain' service that, according to its webpage, "makes it easy to join public networks or create and manage scalable private networks using the popular open-source frameworks Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum”.

However, the most recent reports show that Amazon is not even near adding cryptocurrencies as the payment option for its retail services but is interested in the Web3 space. Recently, company Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy commented that even though developing an Amazon coin is not planned for the near future, there is a possibility for the company to sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its e-commerce platform.