Bitcoin Nears $40,000 Again on "Amazon Payment Acceptance Expectations"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] Bitcoin prices are once again approaching the $40,000 mark (approximately 46 million KRW), raising expectations for a price rebound. Bitcoin, which had recently experienced a sharp decline, is making a significant recovery amid hopes for cryptocurrency payment adoption by Amazon, the world's largest online delivery company.

According to cryptocurrency exchange CoinDesk on the 26th, Bitcoin was trading around $39,100 at 3 PM Korean time. At one point in the morning, it rose to $39,544. This represents an increase of more than 12% compared to 24 hours earlier. Following Bitcoin, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, also rose nearly 10% over the past 24 hours, approaching the $2,400 level.

Earlier, cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin started the day on an upward trend following supportive remarks from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Bloomberg reported that market optimism was also fueled by expectations that Amazon would allow cryptocurrency payments.

On the same day, Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce company, was reported to be recruiting experts in digital currency and blockchain technology. The UK economic media outlet City A.M. cited anonymous sources on the 25th (local time), reporting that Amazon is exploring the possibility of accepting Bitcoin as a payment method by the end of the year. Previously, on the 21st, Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey attended the online live-streamed cryptocurrency conference "The B Word," where they made consecutive supportive statements about cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin prices had surged to around $64,800 in April but have since plummeted due to a series of negative factors, including increased regulatory moves by the US and Chinese governments and Tesla's reversal on accepting cryptocurrency transactions. As a result, Bitcoin fell below the $30,000 mark on the 20th, showing a steep decline.