The craze about crypto is not ending anytime soon. If anything, we are in a phase of witnessing the huge disruptions. And, Amazon is in it after filing for a proof of work patent that will utilize on cryptography. This is huge not only for the space but for amazon whose revenue is spiraling, hiting an estimated $12.4 billion in 2018 effectively becoming part of the the big four tech companies in the globe.
However and despite the milestones, Amazon is not relenting and it appears milestones are far from being achieved as they venture into new but promising territory. Thus far, sentiments indicate a heavy inclination towards crypto.
During Consensus, Rahul Pathak, Amazon’s General Manager for web services said: “if virtual assets are anything that matters to clients, Amazon would try to get the pint.” Even so, it’s not very clear if Amazon will be rolling out their own crypto. But what matters is the fact that the management has seen the sense. In any case, if they were to join, the basics will still apply for their rollout.
No doubt, Amazon has transformed the online business landscape. According to a tweet by Antony Pompano, Co-founder & Partner at Morgan Creek Digital, “there’s not a large company in the world who isn’t going to join the revolution.THE VIRUS IS SPREADING.”
By virtue of filing for a patent, it displays the advanced stage of acceptance within the ranks of Amazon. Patents are delicate and holders are usually careful with the rights to the digital assets. Amazon applied for a patent that specifically zeroes in on proof-of-work which involves cryptography. These two are the core of Bitcoin and every other decentralized coin as Ethereum or Litecoin for example. The proofing of work element makes it very expensive for hacker’s manipulation in relation to Denial-of-service attacks.
In reply to Pomplianos tweet, Bryce Crawford said:
“The system Amazon describes is not a cryptocurrency. But rather a service that requires clients to compute a proof of work in order to use the service. This would disincentivize denial of service attacks since clients need to burn big cashto execute the attack”
Essentially what is coming out clearly is the element of deploying Blockchain applications for system security. At the end of the day, what matters is the security of the entire systems and services. And for Amazon, the reach is not curtailed in any way towards installing such features. However, the bottom line is when the patent is claimed, they are in the Blockchain. With the Blockchain, came cryptocurrencies first. Therefore, there is no limitation for Amazon to actually roll out a cryptocurrency in the future despite this believe that the patent will power a service, not a coin.
Either way, Amazon would have tapped into the Blockchain. Besides, it would be huge if the world’s largest retailer accept crypto in place of fiat in days ahead.