Amazon Probably Not Close to Adding Crypto Payments, Says CEO

Andy Jassy, CEO of American multinational e-commerce company Amazon, told CNBC in an interview on Thursday that the online retail platform will not be adding support for crypto payments anytime soon.

Amazon Not Close to Adding Crypto Payments

However, Jassy noted that Amazon might consider selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the future as the asset class continues to attract interest from celebrities and investors across the world.

Meanwhile, the Amazon boss believes that cryptocurrencies could become bigger in the coming years even though he does not have bitcoin in his investment portfolio.

“We’re not probably close to adding crypto as a payment mechanism in our retail business, but I do believe over time that you’ll see crypto become bigger,” he said.

Crypto Payments on the Rise

Over the years, there has been speculation that Amazon will soon join the growing list of big companies that accept Bitcoin and crypto payments. Unfortunately, crypto shoppers may have to wait longer as Jassy did not reveal a timeline for integrating crypto payments on Amazon, nor did he give any reason for delaying the integration.

Unlike Amazon, the growing adoption of digital assets has seen many companies add support for crypto as a payment option for goods and services.

Last week, Strike, an online payment platform, partnered with Shopify, NRC and Blackhawk to enable payments through the Bitcoin lightning network. The deal will allow registered Shopify merchants to accept bitcoin payments from customers which will be converted to the U.S. dollars immediately.

Earlier this month, Italian fashion brand Off-White announced that it has started accepting cryptocurrency payments for its services. Customers will be able to patronize the fashion brand using BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP and stablecoins.

Countries Adopting Crypto Payments

Aside from companies, countries such as Brazil, El Salvador, Russia, and Ukraine have also made efforts to promote the adoption of crypto assets by legalizing the use of cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange.

In 2019, Fortaleza, one of the major cities in Brazil, started accepting bitcoin as payment for public transport services after authorities emphasized on the need to explore other payment options.