Amazon rejects speculation about bitcoin payment plans as untrue, but says it's still exploring crypto

• Amazon dismissed a report specifying its plans to accept bitcoin and to issue its own token.
• Speculation around plans for crypto payments by the end of 2021 is not true, the online retailer said Tuesday.
• But it is looking into crypto developments and what this could mean for Amazon shoppers, it said.

Amazon on Tuesday rejected a report that it plans to accept bitcoin payments by the end of 2021, dismissing the widespread speculation around the details of its approach to digital currencies as untrue.

Chatter around the US online retail giant's crypto intentions was sparked by CityAM's report on Monday, which cited an Amazon insider as its source. The insider said Amazon is working toward accepting bitcoin within months and looking at issuing its own token by the close of 2022, the London newspaper reported.

Bitcoin's price surged above $40,000 on Monday, partly fueled by investor hopes that Amazon venturing into crypto might prompt more mainstream acceptance of digital currencies, analysts said.

"Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true," an Amazon spokesperson told Insider in an e-mail, in response to the CityAM report.

But the company did say it is focused on looking into developments in crypto and what this could look like for people shopping on Amazon, noting it expects new technologies to underpin its platform in the future.

"We're inspired by the innovation happening in the cryptocurrency space and are exploring what this could look like on Amazon," the spokesperson said. "We believe the future will be built on new technologies that enable modern, fast, and inexpensive payments, and hope to bring that future to Amazon customers as soon as possible."

On Tuesday, after Amazon moved to quash the speculation, bitcoin's price reversed gains and was last trading as much as 4% lower at $37,341 as of 4:50 a.m. ET.

Analysts said talk about Amazon's job posting relating to digital currency and blockchain strategy excited crypto enthusiasts and got the rumour mills pumping.

The position falls under the company's payments acceptance and experience team, based in Seattle. Amazon said in its listing that it's looking for someone who can leverage expertise in areas such as distributed ledger technology and central bank digital currencies.

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