You might buy on Amazon using Bitcoin, rumors reported

While governments ponder legalization or continue to reaffirm existing bans on the use of bitcoin, larger e-commerce giants may not care. Speculation built over the weekend that Amazon.com Inc. was considering introducing support for bitcoin payments as soon as October. 

The rumors appear to stem from a recent report on squawker.org, which references a mention in investor James Altucher’s newsletter. According to the source, Altucher is an experienced trader who many believe could have pre-announcement information. The article comments:

“James Altucher has (co)founded more than 20 companies, authored 11 books, and has been a contributor to several major publications.He is a former hedge fund manager and venture capitalist turned activist blogger/podcaster and offers a subscription based mailing list – the source of the Amazon information.”

As recently as this summer, users were petitioning Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, to begin accepting the cryptocurrency. The move may occur as early as October 26th, during the next earnings conference call.

It’s not impossible that Amazon may start accepting bitcoin payments, particularly given smaller competitors such as Overstock already do, but until such time the company says something on the record, this is nothing more than speculation.