Tech Giant’s Interest Sends Cryptocurrency Prices Sharply Higher

There would be no wrong in saying that cryptocurrency has become a global phenomenon in recent years. The acquisition of digital currencies is becoming the new normal although much is still to be learned about this rapidly evolving technology. 

On 24th July 2021, the cryptocurrency market is in the green. The market cap has surged 1.28%, striking the figure of $1.39 billion over that day. On that day, the total crypto market value was $70.73 billion within 24 hours, which makes a 1.54% decrease.

Currently, the volume of all stable coins is $57.22 billion, which is 80.85% of the 24-hour volume of the entire crypto market. At present, the bitcoin price is $33,992.59. Its dominance is 46.03% which is a surge of 0.08% within a day. Ethereum evolved the most, up 1.96%, followed by Bitcoin which is up 1.65%. On the other hand, XRP fell -0.64%.

After a tumultuous week of crypto traders, the prices of cryptocurrencies have surged with the speed of light. Did you know that on 24th July 2021,  bitcoin prices have added almost 7% within 24 hours? Not only this, but ripple’s XRP, Ethereum, Binance’s BNB, and dogecoin have climbed from 5% to 10%, driving the combined cryptocurrency market value up by $200 billion since Wednesday. 

The crypto and bitcoin market boost comes after the technology giants Amazon and Twitter both disclosed the fact that they are taking cryptocurrencies more seriously, adding to an Elon Musk fueled boost for dogecoin, ethereum, and bitcoin prices. 

Amazon is Developing a Cryptocurrency Strategy 

Amazon affirmed that it is looking for a cryptocurrency and blockchain expert to become a part of their payments team, suggesting that the tech giant is taking a more serious look at digital currencies such as bitcoin.  

According to the recent job posting, 

“The payments acceptance and experience team of Amazon is seeking to hire an experienced product leader to develop a digital currency, blockchain strategy, and product roadmap of Amazon.”

Business Insider reported that according to the job posting by Amazon, the candidate will leverage domain expertise in Blockchain, Distributed Ledger, Central Bank Digital Currencies and Cryptocurrency to develop the case for the capabilities which should be developed, drive the entire vision and product strategy, and attain leadership buy-in and investment for new capabilities. 

An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement that

“We are majorly inspired by the technological innovations and advancements that are encountering in the cryptocurrency space. We are exploring what it could look like on Amazon. We believe that the future of this world would be completely based on new technologies that permit modern, efficient, and inexpensive payments. We hope to bring that future to the customers of Amazon as soon as possible.”

Bitcoin Will Be a ‘Big Part’ of Twitter’s Future 

“CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey affirmed to investors that bitcoin will be a big part of the company’s future as he sees opportunities to integrate cryptocurrencies with the existing products and services of Twitter such as subscription, eCommerce, Tip Jar and Super Follows.” 

Jack Dorsey has been a faithful bitcoin advocate for the past couple of years, but it has not been spelled out how he will put cryptocurrency into action on a platform like Twitter. Dorsey has often proclaimed publicly about cryptocurrency that it reminds him of the early internet days and there was not anything more crucial in his life to work on. 

Lately, Dorsey launched a $23.6 million bitcoin fund with Jay Z. Dorsey has also announced plans and strategies to lead his other company named Square into the decentralized financial services market by using bitcoin. Today, Dorsey also called bitcoin along with artificial intelligence and decentralization as one of the key trends for the future of Twitter, the latter of which Twitter is pursuing through its BlueSky initiative. 

My Opinion

In recent years, digital currencies such as bitcoin have attained immense popularity, leading to more institutional acquisition. Tech giants have warmed up to digital currencies, such as Facebook that has backed a digital currency project named Diem. 

In May 2021, Apple announced, 

“We are currently looking to hire a lead negotiator to strike partnerships with alternative payment partners, listing cryptocurrency as one scope of potential job expertise”

The future of cryptocurrencies is very much still in question. Proponents see its potential beyond the limits, whereas critics see nothing more than risks. We probably have no idea what stocks will do next month, or in the next two years, but we have a pretty good hunch that they will go up over the decades.  Some predict that coins will change forever based on how we understand or interact with money, whereas others forewarn a dangerous bubble. 

Hence, no matter what a person predicts, it’s getting harder to imagine the future without cryptocurrencies.