Petition calls for Amazon to accept Dogecoin after its price surge
Over 130,000 people have rallied behind petition
More than 130,000 people have signed a petition calling for Amazon to use dogecoin as a payment method after the cryptocurrency saw its price surge last week.
The "Doge4Amazon - Accept Dogecoin as a payment method" petition, posted to Change.org, claims that Amazon is "alienating many people who do not have a traditional bank account" by not offering Dogecoin.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 198.38 | -4.50 | -2.22% |
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The cryptocurrency, which is based on a popular meme of the Japanese Shiba Inu dog, began as a joke in 2013. Recently, however, its price has skyrocketed, pushing its valuation to nearly $50 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
To bolster its argument, the petition says the cryptocurrency is "fast, cheap, and stable."
DOGECOIN: WHAT'S BEHIND THE SURGE?
Not only that, but it "has the lowest transaction fee of other major coins, has a huge supply of coins and has a very large, active community with on-going development," according to the petition.
Although Dogecoin is already being used by many small business owners, charity organizations, and entrepreneurs, according to the petition, Amazon would be one of the first major corporations to use it as a payment method.
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Dogecoin has slowly been rising to popularity in recent months thanks in part to high-profile celebrities and business leaders like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and rapper Snoop Dogg, who have tweeted about the cryptocurrency.
Last week, Musk posted another tongue-in-cheek tweet alluding to the cryptocurrency.
Aside from its celebrity recognition, Dogecoin also gained attention from users on a Reddit forum called SatoshiStreetBets that helped prompt a surge in Dogecoin on Friday.
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of cryptocurrencies Cardano and Ethereum, said in a video posted to Twitter on Friday that Musk's efforts to bring attention to Dogecoin, as well as "market manipulation by clever whales," has led Dogecoin to "become a haven for new entrance into the cryptocurrency space."
Representatives for Amazon did not respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
FOX Business' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
