Online retail and e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) says it is hiring a digital currency and blockchain expert for its payments team, signaling a growing interest in cryptocurrencies.
According to a recent job posting, Amazon’s payments acceptance and experience team is seeking to hire an “experienced product leader to develop Amazon’s digital currency and blockchain strategy and product roadmap.”
Amazon said in a statement: “We’re inspired by the innovation happening in the cryptocurrency space and are exploring what this could look like on Amazon.”
The company’s cloud-computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), offers a service called managed blockchain. But Amazon currently doesn’t accept any cryptocurrencies as payment for its products.
Amazon’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andy Jassy has said that the company isn’t particularly focused on blockchain technology, though he has acknowledged that Amazon is “watching it carefully.”
Digital currencies such as Bitcoin have grown in popularity in recent years, leading to more institutional adoption. Technology companies have also warmed up to cryptocurrency, including Facebook, which has backed a digital currency project called “Diem.”
In May, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it was looking to hire a lead negotiator to strike partnerships with “alternative payments” partners, listing cryptocurrency as one area of potential job expertise.
Separately, the price of Bitcoin surged on Sunday (July 25), topping $39,000 U.S. for the first time since mid-June as sentiment turned bullish following a recent sell-off of the digital asset.
Experts attributed the increase to a number of factors, including recent bullish comments from Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. Some of the concerns over the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining and China’s regulatory crackdown have also begun to wane, sending prices higher.
