CZ Suggests Amazon to Accept Payments in Bitcoin

Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, former CEO of Binance, has suggested that Amazon should accept Bitcoin (BTC) as a form of payment. This comes after shareholders asked the tech giant to consider adding BTC to its treasury.

CZ responded in a recent post to the news that Amazon shareholders have asked the board of directors to conduct a review on whether the company should add Bitcoin to its strategic reserve.

The former Binance executive suggested that Amazon should accept Bitcoin as a payment method on its online marketplace, as a stepping stone towards adding the cryptocurrency to its reserves. In this way, the company can gain a better understanding of the value of Bitcoin compared to traditional currencies. “Simple. Accept Bitcoin payments?” CZ wrote in his post.

In another post, Joel Valenzuela of Dash asked CZ why Bitcoin should be accepted as a payment method for Amazon. According to him, it is worthless as a payment method compared to other cryptocurrencies.

CZ partially agreed with Valenzuela and indicated that he made a purchase with Bitcoin worth $17.08, but had to wait 15 minutes before the payment was confirmed by the recipient. However, he maintained his position that it is a better payment option than traditional financial methods, such as bank transfers, which often take more time in case of errors. “Still better than TradFi. I didn’t have to call anyone to fix it. After 15 minutes, it just worked. Crypto, I agree,” said CZ.

Many responses under CZ’s post share the same optimistic view and hope that Amazon will eventually make the transition to investing in Bitcoin. The global conservative think tank National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) suggested that Amazon add Bitcoin to its strategic reserve.

A large portion of Amazon’s total assets are held in cash, cash equivalents, and government bonds. As a result, the NCPPR believes that Amazon shareholders are not adequately protected by these currency-related assets, given the declining value of cash and bond yields.

Therefore, the NCPPR argued that Amazon has a duty to add assets to its treasury that are not tied to traditional finance, such as Bitcoin. While the proposal acknowledges the volatile nature of Bitcoin, it suggested that Amazon should still diversify its balance sheet by investing at least 5% of its assets in Bitcoin.