{"id":317004,"date":"2021-08-06T16:14:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T13:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ready-to-deploy-amazons-bitcoin-acceptance-can-prime-a-payments-future\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T16:14:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T13:14:00","slug":"ready-to-deploy-amazons-bitcoin-acceptance-can-prime-a-payments-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ready-to-deploy-amazons-bitcoin-acceptance-can-prime-a-payments-future\/","title":{"rendered":"# Ready to deploy? Amazon\u2019s Bitcoin acceptance can prime a payments future"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2eeb9d8cb77\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2eeb9d8cb77\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ready-to-deploy-amazons-bitcoin-acceptance-can-prime-a-payments-future\/#Greater_acceptance_for_Bitcoin\" >Greater acceptance for Bitcoin?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ready-to-deploy-amazons-bitcoin-acceptance-can-prime-a-payments-future\/#Facebook_was_the_%E2%80%9Cfirst_mover%E2%80%9D\" >Facebook was the \u201cfirst mover\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ready-to-deploy-amazons-bitcoin-acceptance-can-prime-a-payments-future\/#A_crackdown_made_less_likely\" >A crackdown made less likely?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong># Ready to deploy? Amazon\u2019s Bitcoin acceptance can prime a payments future <\/strong>&#8221;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMDgvOGI1YzRjZGYtMDk4MS00MTU5LTkxM2EtNmI5ZGFiMTI2ZTMxLmpwZw==.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-128018ef>Maybe Amazon really isn\u2019t preparing to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for its goods and services before year\u2019s end, and perhaps <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>le isn\u2019t in fact adding $2.5 billion of Bitcoin to its balance sheet \u2014 although both events were reported recently, they are still unconfirmed. The question still remains: If and when the tech giants do commit, what impact will they have on the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry?<\/p>\n<p>Would it spur crypto adoption or revive Bitcoin as a medium of exchange? Would it confer a seal of approval on digital assets and discourage governments from clamping down on blockchain-based tokens? <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis would be a huge validation for crypto,\u201d said Kapil Rathi, co-founder and CEO of CrossTower \u2014 an institutional-grade crypto trading platform \u2014 when asked to consider the possibility that the rumors were true. \u201cIt would be a clear sign that there is significant user demand for crypto for companies of this size to implement it or offer it as products.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Amazon report originated from a United Kingdom <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>paper, City A.M., which disclosed via an anonymous Amazon \u201cinsider\u201d that the e-commerce giant could begin accepting Bitcoin before the end of the year. Amazon later denied the report, but Roman Beck, a professor at IT University of Copenhagen, told Cointelegraph that it really wouldn\u2019t have much of a lasting impact on the sector \u2014 even if true. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmazon could have been a leading force in the tokenization of the e-commerce industry,\u201d Beck said, \u201ccapitalizing on its huge installed base of customers on a global scale.\u201d Instead, it squandered its opportunity: \u201cAmazon lost precious years in developing digital leadership in the emerging token economy.\u201d The company should have embraced crypto two or three years ago, in his view.<\/p>\n<p>As for the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> reports \u2014 also unconfirmed \u2014 that Apple was purchasing $2.5 billion in Bitcoin for its corporate treasury, its first real foray into crypto, Beck was equally unimpressed: \u201cAdding some Bitcoin to your balance sheet is something many companies are doing already as part of their asset diversification strategy. It\u2019s no big deal either anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Taylor Monahan, founder and CEO of blockchain interaction interface provider MyCrypto, appeared to agree with Beck with regard to Apple. \u201cIn December 2020, we saw a surge of companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets,\u201d which also included the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. She further added in a conversation with Cointelegraph, \u201cNowadays, it\u2019s noteworthy when a company announces they\u2019re holding it, but it\u2019s no longer a groundbreaking occurrence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the Amazon news \u2014 if it were eventually to pan out \u2014 could be more consequential. \u201cActually utilizing Bitcoin for goods and services? That\u2019s still largely unexplored,\u201d Monahan said.<\/p>\n<p>Pat White, CEO of Bitwave \u2014 a provider of digital tax and accounting software \u2014 took the position that where there\u2019s smoke there\u2019s fire. The tech giant rumors could be true \u2014 if not in their exact details, but in their essence. \u201cI believe it,\u201d he told Cointelegraph, referring to the Amazon report. Even though the company denied it, it is almost surely doing research in this area, according to him. \u201cAll the major [retail] players would love to have their own currency for their platforms,\u201d opined White, \u201cit\u2019s exciting news.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>White doesn\u2019t believe that Amazon would be arriving too late to the crypto space, either. \u201cAmazon has to be careful,\u201d he continued. As a public company, it will have to explain what it is doing if it makes any material change in its business. It has a stack of problems it has to solve first. How does it get crypto into its accounting system, how does it explain the accounting changes to its audit committee, etc? <\/p>\n<p>Moreover, it\u2019s probably not just looking at Bitcoin. There are many types of cryptocurrencies it might accept, and it would have to track them all. It would require all sorts of wallets. He believes, \u201cThere are real challenges businesses have to go through, especially since they are a public company.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Greater_acceptance_for_Bitcoin\"><\/span>Greater acceptance for Bitcoin?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If Amazon were to accept BTC, and it basically worked from a business standpoint, this might bestow \u201cadditional respectability\u201d upon Bitcoin and perhaps other cryptocurrencies, Lawrence White, a professor in George Mason University\u2019s economics department and a senior scholar at the Cato Institute Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, told Cointelegraph. This would be arguably \u201cbigger news\u201d for the sector than PayPal\u2019s entry into the cryptocurrency market in October, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly viewed as a major event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be an enormous deal,\u201d agreed Pat White (no relation to Lawrence White). Both Amazon and Apple could have \u201cmassive importance,\u201d he said though for different reasons.\u00a0\u201cAmazon would trigger Congressional hearings,\u201d he continued, raising questions whether we were really becoming a corporatocracy \u2014 i.e., a system governed by corporations. \u201cThough, it would be incredibly bullish for the market,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Apple would be significant for another reason, Pat White continued. The company has one of the world\u2019s most complex supply chains, so \u201cif Apple simplified its supply chain using digital assets, that would be a major deal. [&#8230;] It could change what supply chain means.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Facebook_was_the_%E2%80%9Cfirst_mover%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Facebook was the \u201cfirst mover\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Beck has a different historical take. The giant tech \u201cspell was broken when Facebook announced Libra\/Diem,\u201d he told Cointelegraph, adding, \u201cThat was the [sign] for Big Tech and other industries to get ready. Amazon is late to the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> and will have a market effect on the demand for Bitcoin, for sure, but Facebook has been the first mover.\u201d As for Apple, and, equally important, Alphabet, the impact is still unclear, he continued, \u201cbut it is fair to say that those two are late to the game already.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rathi disagreed that Amazon\u2019s timing is necessarily flawed. \u201cIt would still be relatively early versus the vast majority of companies,\u201d he told Cointelegraph, and it would also make Bitcoin more viable as a payments vehicle, adding:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt would give Bitcoin holders more options to spend their BTC and could thus spur its use as a medium of exchange.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>George Mason University\u2019s Lawrence White agreed that Amazon\u2019s acceptance of BTC could make the world\u2019s largest cryptocurrency more viable as a medium of exchange \u2014 but only if people actually used it as such. Converting BTC to dollars and dollars to BTC isn\u2019t exactly a seamless process at present. \u201cIf your income is in dollars and your expenditures are in dollars, it seems like a lot of trouble \u2014 a hassle \u2014 so it\u2019s not real popular,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>Overstock, for instance, is an e-commerce firm that began accepting BTC payments in 2014. Its sales in the first three quarters of 2020 were nearly $2 billion, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/02\/03\/style\/what-can-you-actually-buy-with-bitcoin.html\">according<\/a> to the New York Times, but only \u201can average of $30,000 to $50,000 a week came from cryptocurrency,\u201d Overstock\u2019s CEO Jonathan Johnson told the newspaper \u2014 a relative pittance. Amazon would have to do much better than that to boost Bitcoin\u2019s stature as a payment mechanism.<\/p>\n<p>The point may be moot anyway \u2014 because Amazon may not even accept BTC if and when it enters the crypto space, Bitwave\u2019s Pat White told Cointelegraph. \u201cThey probably want to develop their own coin, like gift card 2.0,\u201d he added. That way, they can cut out the intermediaries \u2014 e.g., Visa taking its 3%, etc. Beck agreed that an \u201cAmazon coin,\u201d which would enable efficient machine-to-machine coordination and payments, was a more likely path for the company. <\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_crackdown_made_less_likely\"><\/span>A crackdown made less likely?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Looking elsewhere, what impact could the entry of tech giants have on governments and regulators? If Amazon or Apple made a strong move in the crypto direction, would that make it less likely that the United States might crackdown on Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlan Greenspan once supposedly said that regulators cannot \u2018lean against the wind\u2019 to dampen economic swings,\u201d answered Beck. In the case of the emerging token economy, \u201cIT is that wind of change. [&#8230;] Any regulator continuing a fundamental opposition toward crypto tokens is doomed to fail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related:\u00a0Illusion or reality? Crypto demand either faltering or poised to charge<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lawrence White wasn\u2019t quite so sure the authorities really are powerless on this score. The government can\u2019t ban BTC as long as it\u2019s peer-to-peer, he told Cointelegraph, but \u201cthe government can ban it from being above ground,\u201d and that is probably enough to eliminate it as an effective medium of exchange.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, what does one make about the dramatic market response to the Amazon rumors \u2014 a 15% gain in BTC in three hours last Monday? It is arguably yet another example of crypto\u2019s extreme volatility \u2014 and not a particularly good advertisement for a would-be medium of exchange. \u201cThe crypto market loves to react strongly to potential headlines, as we saw in the spring,\u201d Rathi said, adding: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe difference this time was that the headline came from a relatively reputable publication, which gave it more weight. I also think crypto investors have been yearning for positive news, while prices were declining for months.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Overall, \u201cThis type of adoption makes me think back to 2013 when a huge focal point for Bitcoin was to use it for payments,\u201d Monahan said, \u201cbut the narrative moved away from that over time and more towards Bitcoin as a store of value. If we again go back to the idea of using Bitcoin for payments and not simply as an investment, it could make Bitcoin much more valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore and more companies accepting it will add to the significance, though, especially with the added context of El Salvador and the regulatory discussion,\u201d added Monahan. \u201cIt may transform things for Bitcoin in the next few years.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"markets_outlook\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/ready-to-deploy-amazon-s-bitcoin-acceptance-can-prime-a-payments-future\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;# Ready to deploy? Amazon\u2019s Bitcoin acceptance can prime a payments future &#8221; Maybe Amazon really isn\u2019t preparing to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for its goods and services before year\u2019s end, and perhaps Apple isn\u2019t in fact adding $2.5 billion of Bitcoin to its balance sheet \u2014 although both events were reported recently, they&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":317005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMDgvOGI1YzRjZGYtMDk4MS00MTU5LTkxM2EtNmI5ZGFiMTI2ZTMxLmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74862,74889,74355,2758,117],"class_list":["post-317004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-bitcoin","tag-payments","tag-adoption","tag-amazon","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}