One of the things that can make cryptocurrencies skyrocket in value is adoption. Unfortunately, the price of top cryptos today is down. Bitcoin in the last week dropped to its lowest level since September 2017. And also, you have the additional scrutiny being made by US Securities and Exchange Commission.
However, despite the challenges faced by the crypto market today, Amazon has seen a window of opportunity to unveil new services that includes managed blockchain offering. Here, Amazon Web services customers can set up “a scalable blockchain network with just a few clicks”. What it does is it “automatically scales to meet the demands of thousands of applications running millions of transactions”.
It was reported a few months ago that based on a Cowen survey that it would take around 5.9 years before cryptocurrencies could gain widespread adoption. However, Amazon now decided to step forward. As for Amazon, it is going to support two popular blockchain platforms namely Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric. This move makes perfect sense since Ethereum remains as one of the top crytpocurrencies despite losing the second spot to Ripple. As for Hyperledger, it is being used by IBM.
Blockchain Has Practical Applications
This is considered a big move since Amazon is one of the strongest companies that even emerged despite the dot com bubble. According to AWS Andy Jassy, “We don’t build things for optics”. He added that the company spends on things when they “understand the problem”. And he also explained that blockchain is “something that a lot of companies need”.
Amazon isn’t the only one that is adopting blockchain technology. You also have Walmart. It is one of the first retailers that openly adopted the tech. The company said that this can help lettuce suppliers to upload data on the blockchain.
But as for Amazon, Jassy explained that they are responding to the rising demand by customers to have blockchain technology. He mentioned that there are many applications ranging from health-care records to supply chain tracking.
Aside from managed blockchain products, you also have the Amazon Quantum Ledger Database or better known as QLDB. Here, customers can get a copy of the blockchain network activity.
Why Adoption Matter?
Adoption matters because it simply means that blockchain has a utility and not just used for speculation. Ripple has been saved by their partnership in the recent bearish market. Ripple partnered with banks including Santander and it is also rumored to be partnering with Bank of America. Because of this, Ripple is now the second largest cryptocurrency based on market capitalization.
Amazon has been using Ethereum on its cloud network. And also, in May, the company announced that it is doing a partnership with Kaleido. Many are asking though if Amazon is ever going to make use of a particular cryptocurrency? Will this be the next step for the internet giant?
However, one of the things that make businesses hesitate in accepting cryptocurrencies is the fact that cryptocurrencies are highly volatile. Bitcoin lost as much as 80% from its all-time high. And in just a matter of 24 hours, the crypto market has gained $20 billion.
