Amazon secures three cryptocurrency web addresses

Domain Name Wire reported on Tuesday that Amazon's legal department has secured three web addresses - amazonethereum.com, amazoncryptocurrency.com, and amazoncryptocurrencies.com.

Amazon already had amazonbitcoin.com, but it was registered in 2013 - the address now automatically forwards to Amazon's main site, whereas the more recently-registered domains do not yet serve up anything.

After the news of Amazon's latest registrations on Wednesday, one Byron Wiebe also registered amazonripple.com, which forwards to the website for the Ripple cryptocurrency.

According to commentators, it is highly likely that Amazon only registered its cryptocurrency-related domains in order to stop other people registering them in this way, which potentially infringes on the company's trademark.

CNBC had pointed out that, Amazon Pay vice president Patrick Gauthier said only last month that the company did not have plans to accept payments in virtual currency, due to a lack of demand. According to commentators that could be entirely plausible in view of the fact that bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, is currently more lucrative as a speculative asset than as a tool for actually making payments.

However, the second-biggest cryptocurrency after which Amazon registered amazonethereum.com is not appreciating in value like bitcoin. Its underlying blockchain mechanism also has more uses, and is touted  as a repository for self-executing ''smart contracts'' and other tools for technical decentralisation.

Meanwhile the world's most valuable cryptocurrency shot past the $7,000 mark to hit yet another all-time high yesterday.

According to websites specialising in digital currencies, bitcoin vaulted 8 per cent last morning, hit a record level of $7,300.11.

The cryptocurrency smashed another record with its market capitalisation hitting $121 billion, while total market value of all cryptocurrencies topped $189 billion for the first time.

According to analysts the increase was driven by the world's largest exchange operator CME Group, which announced that it would launch bitcoin futures trading (See: CME Group announces launch of Bitcoin futures ).