Amazon Working On Project To Let Customers Enjoy Services Using 'Digital Currency'

Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) appears to be preparing to launch a “digital currency” project, beginning with Mexico, based on the company's job listings.

What Happened: “We are building a tech team to build innovative payment products for customers in emerging markets and are looking for talented SDEs [Software Development Engineers] and SDMs [Software Development Managers] to join our journey,” stated the Jeff Bezos-led company in the ad, first noticed on CoinDesk.

The yet-to-be-developed product will allow customers to enjoy a gamut of Amazon services including Prime Video.

“This product will enable customers to convert their cash into digital currency using which customers can enjoy online services including shopping for goods and/or services like Prime Video,” as per Amazon’s job posting.

Another advertisement for the retail giants’ Digital and Emerging Markets Payments unit called for engineers to work on a “brand new initiative” for emerging markets, beginning with Mexico. 

The second listing said that “owning end to end payment experience” for Amazon’s Brazilian customers was also on the plate.

Why It Matters: There is no clarity on whether the latest initiative is linked with “Amazon Coins,” an eight-year-old virtual currency that can only be used for certain purchases, noted CoinDesk.

Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have been garnering increased interest from mainstream corporates and institutions.

This week, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) said it would allow the use of BTC for payments in the near future.

See Also: This Is How Tesla Could Let You Buy An EV With Bitcoin

The Elon Musk-led company also invested $1.5 billion in the apex cryptocurrency.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) said Wednesday that it was expanding cryptocurrency support due to growing interest among consumers and merchants.

Price Action: Amazon shares closed 0.56% lower at $3,286.58 on Wednesday and fell almost 0.5% in the after-hours session.