Sam Bourgi
An anonymous source within Amazon has reportedly told London business newspaper City A.M. that the e-commerce giant is planning to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments by the end of 2021, possibly setting the stage for broader mainstream acceptance of crypto transactions.
“This isn’t just going through the motions to set up cryptocurrency payment solutions at some point in the future – this is a full-on, well-discussed, integral part of the future mechanism of how Amazon will work,” the source told City A.M., according to a report published on Sunday.
She indicated that, while Bitcoin is the first step in Amazon’s crypto ambitions, executives at the company were keen to add other established cryptocurrencies in the future. The “directive is coming from the very top,” referring to Jeff Bezos, she said, adding:
“This entire project is pretty much ready to roll.”
In addition to accepting Bitcoin payments, Amazon is said to be exploring the creation of its own cryptocurrency, possibly as early as 2022, she said.
Martin Young
Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has decided to curb risky trading by limiting the leverage available to its users. The exchange, founded by crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has reduced the maximum leverage available on the platform down to 20x, a significant reduction from its previous limit of 101x.
In a July 25 tweet announcing the updated leverage limits, Bankman-Fried said that the decision was made in light of the exchange’s efforts to “encourage responsible trading.” He asserted that leveraged trading is not a significant part of the exchange’s overall volumes, estimating the average open margin position on FTX is leveraged by roughly 2x, stating:
“This will hit a tiny fraction of activity on the platform, and while many users have expressed that they like having the option, very few use it.”
The reaction from the crypto community was largely positive, with many commenters highlighting the risks associated with high leverage.
Samuel Haig
The price of Bitcoin has surged more than 10% over just a few hours earlier today, with prices quickly surging from roughly $35,000 to tag just shy of $40,000 on July 26.
Price action shows a violent short squeeze that occurred as prices broke above $35,000, with bullish momentum suddenly accelerating as prices quickly rallied 15% from roughly $34,000 to $39,800 over the course of fewer than three hours.
And folks, we have our squeeze. https://t.co/Lflcp7MZuw July 26, 2021
By contrast, BTC had taken the past five days to gain from roughly $30,000 to $34,000. As of this writing, Bitcoin is changing hands for roughly $38,500.
According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is the top gainer for the past 24 hours among the top 30 crypto assets by capitalization, posting a gain of nearly 13%.
The sudden rally has seen numerous technical indicators return to offering bullish signals, popular analyst, Lark Davis, informing his 426,000 followers that BTC’s price is again trending above its 50-day moving average.
----
This Daily Dose was brought to you by Cointelegraph.
