Are we going to start buying e-books with Amazon e-bucks? Amazon is launching its own private currency:.
Amazon has just announced a new virtual currency for Kindle Fire owners to use on in-app purchases, app purchases, etc. in the Amazon Appstore.
The service will launch in May, at which point Amazon will be giving away tens of millions of dollars worth of Amazon coins to customers. Users then have the choice of paying for apps or in-app purchases with their credit cards or with Amazon coins.
What the wha-? I’m not the only one asking questions. From the comments section of the linked article:
Besides trapping users money via their private currency in the Amazon eco system, what other motivations do think Amazon had for making this move?
You’d think Amazon would prefer to be paid in, you know, money. Is Amazon trying to become its own private nation-state?
2 Comments on “Amazon to Launch Its Own Currency?”
The benefits of a private digital currency are actually quite numerous. One of which being that you’d have to purchase Amazon’s currency using real world currency, and they would then be able to give global prices as the same value, due to the different exchange rates. Couple that with being able to hold the real world currency in a sort of escrow, collecting interest on it, and all that that implies. It’s a great way to build their bank accounts and make their numbers look good.
That is quite fascinating. Thanks very much for this info. What do you think of BitCoin?