If you want to pay with the digital currency Bitcoin in the financial center of Frankfurt, you will quickly end up in the Focacceria by Ranieri Sciarra. Pull out your mobile phone, pay with Bitcoin, everything is done quickly. However, Sciarra is a pioneer even in the financial city, because hardly any other business accepts the digital motto. A gym, a printing shop, a photo studio. Much more is not possible.
Now, however, a trading giant could make the former anarcho-motto Bitcoin socially acceptable: Some financial experts speculate that Amazon, of all people, could enter the digital currency business. Will the digital giant soon accept Bitcoin? Will Amazon even create its own digital currency? Nothing is official yet, but rumors are already being heard. Because specialist services have recently pointed out that the group is looking for a digital currency strategist via job advertisement.
These rumors catapulted the Bitcoin price up on Monday: At its peak, the digital currency shot up by eleven percent and rose to $ 39,748. “The simmering rumor mill about Amazon’s possible entry into the industry is grist to the mill of investors,” says crypto expert Timo Emden from the analysis company Emden Research. However, the euphoria of investors was not enough to crack the $ 40,000 mark. Because in reality it was mainly a pronounced pessimism that was responsible for the price increase.
On Monday alone, traders ended bets on falling Bitcoin prices of around $ 970 million
Previously, investors had finally bet massively on falling prices in the digital currency. But the higher the price rises, the more expensive these bets become for many market participants. The subtle irony here: In order to cancel their collapse speculations, the actually pessimistic investors also have to buy Bitcoin. On Monday alone, traders ended bets on falling Bitcoin prices of around $ 970 million, according to data from the Bybt analysis platform. “There is no other way to explain the price jump in this way,” says market expert Timo Emden.
It remains to be seen whether Amazon will actually accept Bitcoin. It is clear, however, that the tech company has had financial ambitions for years. For example, US customers of the Amazon Cash service can deposit cash in stores and have it credited to their Amazon account. With the Amazon Lending service, retailers can get a loan on the platform from ING Bank. And in recent years there have been rumors that Amazon could offer its own account with the US bank JP Morgan.
Or does the group even end up issuing its own digital money? Internet sites such as amazoncoin.com are already redirecting users – to the Amazon homepage.