Not long ago, cryptocurrencies were a foreign concept to nearly everyone, including those who professionally dealt with fiat currencies. However, the phenomenal success of Bitcoin (BTC), as well as the advantages of new, revolutionary technologies such as the blockchain, smart contracts, and numerous supporting algorithms that ensure the security of both data and transactions made on such platforms, appear to have triggered an avalanche of new coins on the crypto market.
As a result, organizations and businesses nowadays not only accept digital money as a method of exchange, but they also have their own digital currencies. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the native coin of one of the world’s largest online retailers, Amazon, as well as its applications and how to check the Amazon coin balance. To begin with, let’s first explore the idea behind the Amazon coin cryptocurrency initiative.
What Are Amazon Coins?
Amazon Coins are a virtual currency developed by Amazon.com. On July 13, 2013, when Amazon coins were released to the crypto ecosystem, the world’s largest online retailer provided 500 free promotional coins of their native cryptocurrency to all Kindle Fire subscribers. The holders of this cryptocurrency could use Amazon coins in a similar way they used fiat money to purchase software for their gadgets.
Amazon coins may now be used as digital money or gift cards (where 1 Amazon coin equals 1 USD cent) to purchase programs, video games, or mobile games for Android and Kindle devices, as well as for Fire tablets. Amazon’s native coin can also be utilized to conduct microtransactions on applications obtained through the Amazon Appstore.
Where Can You Buy Amazon Coins?
The value of one Amazon coin is one US cent per coin. As a result, 100 Coins are equivalent to $1. Similar to the trading policy of Amazon’s online site, these coins can be bought in bulk at a more convenient price, and they never expire. Consequently, Amazon prime members can take advantage of the Amazon prime offer on designated days in order to purchase and store large quantities of Amazon coins. On the other hand, the promotional coins that are offered to Amazon users from time to time do have a date of expiration and lose their value 12 months after they are credited to a user’s account.
Amazon coins can be acquired in a relatively straightforward manner – just log into your Amazon account and click on the dedicated ‘Coins’ link. In addition, some apps and games may also award you with Amazon coins for making in-app purchases. The most popular among them is the Amazon Underground app, though this application is not available for iPhone and Mac users.
In addition, dozens of new Amazon applications will credit your account with free coins after you pay for their service. These tokens can only be used to purchase programs and games from the Amazon Appstore, which is unique to Amazon.
It’s worth noting that every time an Amazon consumer uses Amazon coins to buy software or an item from the online retailer, the developer of the coins gets compensated in fiat currency.
How to Buy and Use Amazon Coins
To be able to redeem your Amazon coins so that you can use them to buy stuff, you’ll need to download and install the Amazon Appstore application on your Android smartphone.
Next, find the ‘Coins’ tab on your Amazon account and follow the instructions for obtaining your first Amazon coin (or batch of Amazon coins). You’ll be given the option to buy six different Amazon coin bundles, with amounts ranging from 500 to 10,000 coins. Simply click the “buy button” and – you’re done!
Adding Amazon Coins to your account will provide you the option to make payments in Amazon Coins or any other fiat currency of your choosing. You just need to pick the currency you want to use for the transaction.
How Can You Check Your Amazon Coin Balance?
To determine the balance of your Amazon Coins, first, visit the product page of any purchased application. The Amazon App Store also includes a little pop-up bar in the lower right corner of the screen that displays your Amazon currency balance.
Amazon Appstore credits may only be used for buying programs and games from the Amazon Appstore, and they cannot be redeemed for cash. This Amazon coin balance is represented in USD, where one cent of a US dollar equals one Amazon coin. Similarly to checking your overall Amazon coin balance, first you need to visit the product page of any of your eligible apps. There. you’ll find a blue link that will lead you directly to your Amazon app store balance.
You can find your Amazon Gift Card balance right above your Amazon appstore credits. The Amazon coins credited to a gift card can be used for purchasing almost every item on Amazon, apart from new gift cards.
A Few Words Before You Go…
Seeing the cryptocurrency trend in finances, the largest online retailer in the world, Amazon, followed suit and created its own coin. Generally speaking, Amazon coins are divided into two categories: coins that you can purchase directly from the store, and the promotional coins that the retailer offers to its clients as part of a promotional campaign.
The Amazon coin can be used similarly to the fiat currencies and gift cards for software and items purchased through Amazon’s website, or for in-app items obtained via Amazon Appstore’s applications (e.g. Amazon Underground app), which are available for Android phones and devices, including Fire tablets. If you want to invest in this cryptocurrency, you can buy Amazon Coins with your credit card in the same way as you would any other product on Amazon. You can even buy them in a bulk for a lower price.
This digital currency does have one caveat – limited use. Namely, the utilization of this cryptocurrency is primarily focused on software for the Android and Kindle devices, Fire tablets, and purchasing in-app items or conducting micropayments on Amazon-supported apps.
In this regard, Amazon Prime members would be the ones to benefit the most from investing in the native cryptocurrency of Amazon, since the use of Amazon coins is limited only within Amazon’s services and apps. You can check your current Amazon Coins balance by simply going to the page of any paid app, video games, or in-app purchased item in the Amazon App Store or via the Amazon website: www.amazon.com.