Amazon-Backed Crypto On A Horizon? Tech Giant Files Suspicious Patent

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Amazon Files Proof Of Work Patent

A patent that has begun to circulate, published Tuesday, reveals that Amazon may be looking into crypto-related systems, like Proof of Work and Merkle Trees. The document, filed under the jurisdiction describes a system that has a “first party” complete computational work to gain access to a computing resource. The document’s abstract also mentions hash trees, which are also referred to as Merkle Trees

Sound familiar? Well, that’s because Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other blockchains use a very similar system. Funnily enough, however, the patent did not mention “cryptocurrency”, “blockchain”, or “Bitcoin” at all, and instead described the Proof of Work system in immense detail, specifically touching on how it could be used to mitigate DOS (denial of service) attacks from bad actors. Indeed, Proof of Work was once proposed as a way to ensure emails aren’t spam.

Despite the lack of cryptocurrency or digital asset-related discussion, the patent mentioned SHA-256, which, as you well know, is the hashing algorithm that Bitcoin and related crypto assets use.

Some have interestingly taken this news as a sign that Amazon, which is valued at a cool $940 billion on the open stock market, is joining the cryptocurrency revolution. As Morgan Creek’s Anthony Pomp wrote on Twitter, “there’s not a large company in the world who isn’t going to join the revolution.”

https://twitter.com/APompliano/status/1129088622370742272

An Amazon representative might confirm, or at least not deny, the hearsay that their firm may get into cryptocurrency or blockchain. According to Decrypt Media, Amazon Web Services General Manager Rahul Pathak told reporters at Consensus that if digital assets are something that “matters to customers”, his firm would try to get a “point of view of it” that makes sense to them. Of course, that statement is very nebulous in and of itself, but at least Pathak didn’t deny the potential of an AmazonCoin or something of a similar nature.

Big Corps Launching Crypto Assets

While it is still unclear whether or not Amazon will launch its own cryptocurrency, other reports indicate that other technology giants have concrete plans in the same vein, making it not out of the realm of possibility that AmazonCoin will become a reality.

As Ethereum World News has reported previously on multiple occasions, Facebook is currently working on securing up to $1 billion in funding from financial services giants, namely Visa and Mastercard, and crypto pundits and funds. Just the other day, Digital Currency Group’s Barry Silbert just divulged he signed an NDA with Facebook for… something. The financing is purportedly for a cryptocurrency and a broader payment network — dubbed “Project Libra.”

The digital asset is purported to be a stablecoin tied to the U.S. dollar and will act as the backbone of the payments system, which is said to be focused on eliminating credit card fees, thus aiding merchants and consumers alike. Interestingly, the cryptocurrency may also become an integral part of an upcoming upgrade to Facebook’s ad system, which may reward users for viewing ads and purchasing goods. This contradicts previous reports stating that Facebook’s project was going to be centered around providing remittances for WhatsApp users in nations like India.

In a similar string of news, Samsung, one of the largest technology firms on Planet Earth, is building an Ethereum-based blockchain. The blockchain, which is still in an “internal experimental” stage, may host its own cryptocurrency, the fittingly named “Samsung Coin.” It isn’t clear what use this asset would hold, but the source suggests that blockchain could be brought to Samsung Pay, the tech giant’s fintech application. After this news propagated, Ledger was revealed to have received a $2.9 million cheque from the South Korean corporation.

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