Amazon Denies Bitcoin Payment Plans – Bitcoin (BTC) Price Falls 8%: Bitcoin price topped $40,000 to record a new monthly high of $40,499 earlier today before tumbling 8% to a daily low of $36,441. The top cryptocurrency is currently trading at $37,141. The price pump yesterday followed by an 8% decline is being attributed to Amazon’s Bitcoin payment news.
Yesterday, a majority of media outlets reported that Amazon is looking to add a Bitcoin payment option on the platform by the end of the year, based on confirmation from an unknown insider. The news was first published by CityAM and later amplified by almost everyone including the likes of Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal. It was believed to be the reason behind the BTC price jump of over 15% yesterday, rising from $35,287 to $40,499.
The rumors were doing the rounds ever since a job posting by Amazon showed they are looking for a crypto and blockchain executive to join the team. However, an Amazon spokesperson denied such reports and said,
“Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true, We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping on Amazon.”
The revelation became the butt of jokes on crypto Twitter as many joked about being the supposed Amazon insider. Many even joked about Apple making a crypto debut.
Crypto Community Fall Prey to Fake News Again
This was not the first time when the crypto community has fallen prey to fake news, it has been a recurring theme in the decentralized ecosystem. Earlier this month another fake news about an Israeli Sovereign Fund investing $2.3 billion in Bitcoin made the headlines before being debunked. The fake news was even shared by the Israeli consulate in China which was later deleted.
The main reason for such fake news is fake Twitter profiles where miscreants impersonate accounts of popular news correspondents and sources. At the peak of the FUD market in May-June, this became quite an issue as several Twitter handles that were mainly followed for offering inside scoops started tweeting fake news in all caps.
Bitcoin price has become more resilient to news-related pumps over time and even the revelation about SpaceX holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet didn’t pump the price of BTC.