Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer made it clear on June 20 that they are not likely to be creating their own cryptocurrency – at least for now. This according to a statement from Patrick Gaulthier, VP of Amazon Pay.
With Facebook on the cusp of releasing their own digital currency, Libra, it was fair to wonder if Amazon would try and copy that plan. Because they have dominated the online retail market, having control over costs and currency would seem like an appealing option for the Internet behemoth.
Gaulthier explained that Amazon is not interested in competing with banks – at least not at this point. “At Amazon, we don’t really deal in the speculative. We always start from an identified need that we have the capacity to solve.” He added that “The fact that we can build something doesn’t mean that we should.”
Gaulthier pointed out that Amazon already has a deal in place to work with a major financial institution to create its own financing. A partnership with Synchrony created the Amazon Prime Store Card Credit Builder, which will be a new credit card system that will help those with bad or no credit to be able to start establishing their credit through a secure card system.
Many large financial institutions are opting to create their own digital currency. This is not just a phenomenon at Facebook and is not even one that is exclusive to the business world. Russia is looking to create its own digital currency, and it has become the goal of the South Korean government to create a completely paperless economy. The Marshal Islands is also looking to go paperless using digital currency.
While Amazon doesn’t appear to be jumping into the cryptocurrency market anytime soon, they did leave the door open for that possibility arising in the future. The idea of creating their own digital currency was described by Gaulthier as “speculative,” explaining that the company doesn’t “really deal with the speculative.”
The move may also be one to ensure that they can continue to do business across the globe. The Libra is already facing opposition from Europe and it looks like Russia may bar the currency from being used in their country. Even in the United States Facebook is being encouraged to hold off on the new coin.
This is likely influencing the decision making process at Amazon. The last thing they want is to see their business hindered by a sudden opposition from the world’s governments.
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