Bitcoin slips as Amazon denies plans to accept crypto payments

Bitcoin prices suffered a small decline on Tuesday after ecommerce giant Amazon Inc denied reports that it was planning to accept payments in the digital currency before the end of the year. In an email sent to outlets including Bloomberg and CoinDesk, an Amazon spokesman said the speculation about the company accepting Bitcoin was “not true” although added that the firm remained “ focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping on Amazon”. READ: Bitcoin touches monthly high amid AMC-style short squeeze Speculation that Amazon could be lining up to accept Bitcoin payments appeared to have been sparked by a report on Monday morning in City AM, which quoted an unnamed ‘insider’ as saying the company was “definitely” lining up plans to accept Bitcoin and was also exploring the possibility of creating its own token next year. The speculation around Amazon’s crypto strategy was credited by some as helping fuel Bitcoin’s surge earlier this week which sent it above US$40,000 for the first time since mid-June on Monday night. However, in early afternoon trading in London on Tuesday the digital currency was down 1.1% in the last 24 hours at US$37,924, giving it a market cap of around US$712bn.