Amazon Preparing to Launch a ‘Digital Currency’ Project in Mexico

Amazon’s grip on the internet economy appears to be coming for currency next, with the e-commerce giant preparing to launch a “digital currency” project in Mexico.

The yet-to-be-announced project, which Amazon sketched out across a series of recent job posts, appears to be an effort to keep lucrative Prime customers eternally plugged into Amazon’s platform.

“This product will enable customers to convert their cash in to digital currency using which customers can enjoy online services including shopping for goods and/or services like Prime Video,” one job post said of Amazon’s “new payment product.”

Amazon’s Digital and Emerging Payments (DEP) division intends to roll-out the product in Mexico first, the posting said. A second job posting hints the product appears to be broadly aimed at emerging markets. Amazon is hiring software development engineers “at all levels” to staff up for launch.

The DEP team and Amazon did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

It is not clear how much Amazon’s planned foray into digital currencies has in common with “Amazon Coins.” That 8-year old virtual currency initiative allows owners to transact in Amazon-issued cash across web games.