Amazon responds to bitcoin rumour that sent crypto market surging

Amazon has responded to a rumour about bitcoin that helped send the market into a frenzy – before it settled back down again.

Over the weekend, speculation began that the company was looking to move into supporting bitcoin, potentially for payments. Given the extra legitimacy and promotion the move would make, it helped support the price of all cryptocurrencies, which made huge gains over Monday.

The rumours began when an amazon job listing was found that suggested the company was recruiting somebody as part of its exploration of the space. But they became even more intensive when the newspaper City AM reported that an “insider” had indicated that the company would start taking payments in cryptocurrency before the end of the year.

Now Amazon has said that while it does have an interest in cryptocurrency, those specific rumours are not true.

“Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true,” a spokesperson told Reuters.

“We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping on Amazon.”

The surging prices have since fallen back down, trimming off much of the gains they made over Monday. While crypto prices are still higher than before the Amazon rumours, they were much lower than the almost 15 per cent gains they made at their peak.

Amazon would be one of a number of companies exploring the possibility of supporting cryptocurrency, and help taking the still largely unsupported cryptocurrency into the mainstream.

During an event last week, for instance, Elon Musk said as well as Tesla’s previously announced bitcoin holdings, SpaceX also has its own investment in the cryptocurrency, and that neither of his companies or Mr Musk himself were looking to sell.

He also suggested that Tesla could soon start taking payments in cryptocurrencies once again, after developments in the market mean that his criteria for its sustainability could be met.