Bitcoin is once again surging after tumbling below $30,000 last week. Today, Bitcoin is bouncing around $40,000 – a pretty dramatic shift in price.
At the beginning of 2021, Bitcoin traded at just shy of $30,000 so last week BTC retraced all of the years’ gains. Now $40K is still a ways away from its April high of over $63,000 but at least it is heading in the right direction for those investors that are long BTC.
So what is driving these recent gains?
Much of the chatter has focused on Amazon’s Job Postings seeking individuals with cryptocurrency experience. Actually, there are currently two open positions at Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) seeking crypto experience. The one of note is for a digital currency and blockchain product lead that was posted on July 22nd.
The listing states:
“The Payments Acceptance & Experience team is seeking an experienced product leader to develop Amazon’s Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap. You will leverage your domain expertise in Blockchain, Distributed Ledger, Central Bank Digital Currencies and Cryptocurrency to develop the case for the capabilities which should be developed, drive overall vision and product strategy, and gain leadership buy-in and investment for new capabilities. You will work closely with teams across Amazon including AWS to develop the roadmap including the customer experience, technical strategy and capabilities as well as the launch strategy.”
Basic requirements include a “deep understanding of the digital / cryptocurrency ecosystem and related technologies. Obviously, Amazon is aware of the fast-growing crypto ecosystem and is considering options with crypto including CBDCs and other crypto. The thesis is that Amazon, the worlds top online retailer may crypto, perhaps Bitcoin, thus driving demand. Of course, Amazon could just be preparing the many central bank digital currencies that are in the works around the world.
The excitement around Amazon and crypto is somewhat reminiscent of rumors surrounding Apple and crypto.
This past May, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) posted a job opening looking for an individual with the following experience:
“5+ years experience working in or with alternative payment providers, such as digital wallets, BNPL, Fast Payments, cryptocurrency and etc..
Deep knowledge of the alternative payments ecosystem, understanding the complexities of funds flow, roles/responsibilities for settlement, relevant regulations and industry standards and the wide spectrum of Fintech products.”
Of course, within days the crypto world had moved on to other areas of interest.
Perhaps, the bigger theme is that digital currencies are coming and big tech needs to be ready now. Be it stablecoins, such as USDC, CBDCs, or even Bitcoin, the writing is on the while. Meanwhile, traders get to trade a really volatile asset.
Update: Amazon says rumors of pending utilization of cryptocurrency are not true. At least for now.