Two Startups Are Partnering to Enable Amazon Purchases with Ethereum

Two blockchain-focused startups are teaming up to enable Amazon purchases with ethereum.

In a press release published Friday, crypto payments firm CLIC Technology said it is collaborating with blockchain infrastructure provider and B2B platform Opporty to develop an app-like browser extension allowing Amazon customers to pay for items in the ether (ETH) token, even though Amazon itself does not accept cryptocurrencies.

The effort will be based on Plasma Cash, a technology outlined last March by ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin. Opporty's implementation of the concept – a payments scaling solution similar to bitcoin's lightning network – "will bring a modern day cryptocurrency economy one step closer to becoming a reality," trumpets CLIC in the release.

The Plasma Cash implementation would "dramatically accelerate" transaction speeds when compared with those on the ethereum blockchain, the firm added.

"Bringing cryptocurrency to the e-commerce marketplace is the merging of two next-generation industries," said Roman Bond, CEO at CLIC Technology. "We're excited to be working on this project with Opporty, and to move forward on a number of other ambitious projects with them as well."

Going forward, the two companies plan to build similar payment products for other cryptocurrencies too, listing ERC-20, ERC-721 and other ethereum standards as options currently being considered.

CLIC Technology is developing a crypto-payment platform called CLICPay, which is now in the pilot phase, according to the release.

Amazon app image via Shutterstock