http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...tens-millions-away-free-US-Kindle-owners.html Amazon has launched its own currency called Amazon Coins. It's currently only available in the States for Kindle Fire owners, but the Coins can be used to pay for games, apps and in-app purchases from the Amazon Appstore. One Amazon Coin is worth one US penny, and Kindle Fire owners are getting 500 Coins ($5) for free as part of the launch. The Coins will also be able to be used on the company's retail site when they become more widely available. Amazon has not yet confirmed when the scheme will be launched outside of the US, or if it will be available to non-Kindle users. Amazon Coins can be bought in batches of 1000, 2500, 5000 and 10,000. The more you buy, the bigger the discount and 10,000 Coins costs $90, for example. Customers will also get a 10% discount on items bought using Amazon Coins. Amazon isn't the first company to introduce it's own currency; Microsoft Xbox and Windows Live customers can use Microsoft Points to pay for games, upgrades, bonus levels and so on. Nintendo similarly has Nintendo Points that can be used in the Wii Shop Channel. Facebook launched Facebook Credits in 2009, which could be used for apps and games on the social network site, but scrapped the scheme last year in favour of local currency. Amazon has said it has launched its Coins program as a way for developers to make more money by making it easier for shoppers to buy apps and games. It hopes Coins will make it easier for customers to pay for items because they can buy and store Coins in their Amazon Appstore accounts to use as and when. It can also be a way for parents to control how much children spend, negating the need to have a credit card attached to the account. Amazon already accepts card payments and gift cards for Kindle purchases and has said that these payment options will remain. Amazon developers had until April 25 to submit their app if they wanted it to run on the new Coins currency. Developers will continue to get 70% revenue share for any apps or in-app purchases bought using Coins.
They'll be like gift cards for retail stores, away for stores to sell stuff without selling anything and if amazon goes bankrupt they'll be worthless..
It's basically the Amazon eco-system only, which is not unsubstantial at this point though and will probably grow bigger. Maybe this is part of their plot to take over the world. Also of note is that it's pegged to the US dollar. Maybe they are starting slow and then going to let it gradually morph into a full-blown currency. You never know. Something to keep an eye on, especially if you are invested in digital currencies.
There's been talk of Amazon Coins for years. From what I understand they're centrally controlled by amazon. So they're more like standard amazon vouchers, and nothing like any of the crypto currencies (Bitcoin, Litecoin ... etc).
I agree. But what's the difference between credit and vouchers really? It's all about who accepts them as money.
