Amazon Coin. Just had to laugh when I saw this.

[iluvpie60]

It is not a currency which can be accepted by other retailers.

This is the key point.  If you can only get it and spend it at one place, it's not currency.

Also, the page says "100 Coins are worth $1."  So even if it was a currency, it's tied to the USD, just like many world currencies.  But since Amazon already takes payment in USD (or the currency of the country they're going business in), and most of their customers get paid in the local currency, there's no advantage.

It says you can save up to 30%. Did you read the whole article? It is also only used for games and apps. And this is from 2013.

[Gervais]

I don't see what the point is. They just seems like some kind of points system, though I don't know why people would actually buy them instead of keeping their fiat.

[KenJackson]

It says you can save up to 30%. Did you read the whole article? It is also only used for games and apps. And this is from 2013.

Those features are not fundamental to currencies.  They're just like coupons or reward points on a credit card.

[NarC]

I don't really see much resemblance except that they have a coin-like image as a logo. That makes sense, though, since it's virtual money.

agreed, it's more of a rewards program than currency

[Stedsm]

Sucks that consumers will dig into this rather than bitcoin

We need a campaign! Stat!

[elephantas1]

why they create their own crypto when they can just integrate bitcoin?

[noma]

It's not in limited supply.
Amazon creates as many as they want.

Doesnt it mean that they can make its price as big or low as they want?

I dont think they will. Right now just seems to be an experiment by amazon, which kind of failed badly.

[cheekychap]

why they create their own crypto when they can just integrate bitcoin?

Like someone said, it was done back in 2013. I think they already gave up on the idea.

[herzmeister]

They were actually looking for developers who were "enthusiastic" about BTC and crypto-currencies. Laughable. Was already obvious it would gonna have nothing to do with it.

[elliwilli]

Dude this is old news.
Amazon coins are actually pretty good, i picked up Threes using them from my purchase of Plex its a loyalty system and not a cryptocurrency.

[HeroCat]

May be they just see BTC market, and then think - why not - we too can create our own coin ?

[btckold24]

just rewards? Its stuff they would give away for free just to view their advertising but now it makes it seem like your "earning it"
pass

[ChuckBuck]

Definitely is just a loyalty/rewards system, not modeled after Crypto at all.  Think "points" or "flyer miles".

That said, I wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole just for the resemblance.

I would, however, start dabbling in this:

https://purse.io/

If I get any Amazon gift cards anytime soon, I'll be sure to give this a test drive.

[zyzzbrah]

This is ridiculous. Just a stupid ego fight. They will sooner or later get engufled by Bitcoin anyway. Fucking tools.

[bitllionaire]

it's just a matter of time that they accept bitcoin

it is unavoidable

[OmegaStarScream]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1001166401

The name and logo of their coin is so obviously modeled after all the bitcoin alt-coins, it's not even funny.

Flattering and lame at the same time.

It's not decentralized.
It's not in limited supply.
Amazon creates as many as they want.
It isn't a blockchain based coin.

It's Amazon Coin!! Yayy.


Fail.

lol , they failed hard 
like I always say , bitcoin is something unique & so original , and no Altcoin or any other Cryptoo currency will defeat it . all we need in BTC at the moment is the full annonymity off chain transaction. something like Zerocoin project

"You can earn free Amazon Coins by purchasing select apps, games, and in-app items" 

[iluvpie60]

It says you can save up to 30%. Did you read the whole article? It is also only used for games and apps. And this is from 2013.

Those features are not fundamental to currencies.  They're just like coupons or reward points on a credit card.

Right, I agree it is not a currency, it almost kind of makes fun of crypto the way that they use it. It is odd they only let you use it on games/apps too. I don't understand why that is. You gotta admit though, 30% off of a $60 game is a pretty sweet deal, on top of that using an amazon rewards credit card to buy those coins gives you 3% off.

so that $60 game now is $40.74 before tax. Assuming they let you buy like xbox/pc/ps games and all that. Not sure if it is just games meaning "apps".

But still.

[bitcoinmining]

It looks really funny guys, thank you for sharing and don't take it so serious. Bitcoin is indisputable against these funny imitations  

[Flashman]

We need a campaign! Stat!

Do we have to? It was more fun when it was geeks only.

[Lauda]

It is pretty useless, I'm not sure what they thought they will gain from this.