Friday Job Posting Fuels Speculation
This past Friday, July 23, a job listing posted by Amazon fueled massive speculation that the company was making the move to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for their goods. At face value, that's what it appears to be anyway. According to the listing:
Do you want to innovate on behalf of customers within the payments and financial systems of one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world? As one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world, Amazon processes billions of secure on-line transactions via numerous payment methods and capabilities around the globe. The Amazon Payment Acceptance & Experience Team is responsible for how Amazon’s customers pay on Amazon’s sites and through Amazon’s services around the globe.
As a global online retailer, this would be huge for cryptocurrencies. By market capitalization, Amazon is the world's largest online retailer. I would argue that if Amazon were to begin accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, this would essentially put said currencies on the map as world currencies. While the majority of Amazon's business is still contained within the United States, international sales grew 57% in Q4 2020 as compared to North American sales which grew 40% in the same period.
So it goes without saying that a major player like Amazon taking steps to start crypto payments would be bullish for the space.
Anonymous Insider Claims It's Happening
According to someone within the Amazon organization, who is anonymous as of now, the company has plans to allow you to start swapping your satoshis for sneakers. "It begins with Bitcoin," they told City A.M. (London's business newspaper). Apparently, this information is coming directly from Jeff Bezos.
The insider also hinted at Amazon perhaps creating its own token: "you can guarantee the Bitcoin plan will be monitored closely as opportunities with Amazon’s own version of a crypto will be explored.”
Bitcoin Bulls Charge Ahead
So, after the Amazon developments have become a bit clearer on this insider information, the Bitcoin bulls are charging full steam ahead. Some are calling it on the news, some are claiming short squeeze. Whatever it is, the daily chart looks nice -- especially that long green candle:
On the monthly chart, it is encouraging to see a price level not seen since June 28. Here we can see that perhaps the tide is starting to turn a bit:
However, on the 3 month chart, we can see that Bitcoin is still within the 30k-40k range. Until that 40k level is seen again, it seems to me Bitcoin will be stuck in said range, with perhaps lower lows ahead in the short-term. The high of 39,544 tonight at 9:02pm is certainly encouraging!
Final Thoughts
As I've said before, the ultimate validation for a cryptocurrency is its adaptation as a payment method. We've all seen the Vegas-style trading in the crypto world; it's beneficial for traders. While some win, a lot lose. The flip side of the "everyday transaction" use-case is that it's a risk asset. That remains true for now. Will the world's biggest businesses eventually dismiss such arguments, bringing Bitcoin's volatility close to the Dollar, Yen, or Euro? I don't know, but this Amazon development perhaps brings cryptocurrencies one step closer to that point. If Amazon wants my satoshis, they must not be worthless.
