Amazon.com, Inc. is preparing its own digital currency and developing a payments system. Meanwhile, Bitcoin hit a new peak north of $48,000 Friday.
Bitcoin hit $48,297 during U.S. trading hours Thursday - nudging above its previous high of $48,226 in what was described as "a staggering pace," CoinDesk said Friday.
The rise in Bitcoin has been noticed by Amazon and other technology companies. Amazon this week posted a job aimed at capturing the cryptocurrency buzz.
The company described the project, to be led by its digital and emerging payments division, as a way for customers to "convert their cash into digital currency," which can be used to purchase products on its site.
The yet-to-be-developed payments system will allow customers to enjoy a broad range of Amazon services including Prime Video, the company said.
The listings said the latest undertaking will start in Mexico, but could expand to clients in other central and South American markets, CoinDesk reported.
"We are realizing our three-year vision with a brand-new initiative for emerging countries starting with Mexico," Finance Magnates quoted the job post as saying.
And end-to-end payment experience for Amazon's Brazilian customers is also being planned in addition to its Mexico initiative, the post read.
Amazon is hiring software developers "at all levels" to staff up the project. It did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It would not be Amazon's only digital currency project, which comes as major tech companies move to embrace cryptocurrency.
This week, Twitter announced it was planning to add Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet.
Last month, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and said it would start accepting transactions in the digital coin.
Meanwhile, BNY Mellon, America's oldest bank, announced a crypto custody for institutional clients while Mastercard said it will allow merchants to be paid in cryptocurrency soon.
