Online retail behemoth Amazon has filed a patent in which they describe crypto-related systems like Merkle Trees and Proof-of-Work (PoW). In the patent they don't mention bitcoin or blockchain, but they do describe that a first party needs to complete computational work before gaining access to a computing resource. That sounds a lot like mining!
Bitcoin, ethereum and all other Proof-of-Work cryptocurrencies use similar systems. Amazon described how they want to use this concept to protect themselves against Denial of Service attacks. Even though the patent doesn't mention anything about bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, it does mention SHA-256. This SHA-256 is the hashing algorithm that the Bitcoin network, any several other currencies, are using.
Amazon hasn't revealed anything yet about its ventures into blockchain or cryptocurrecies. But this patent has gotten people excited. Amazon is a 940 billion dollar company, and when a company of this magnitude jumps into crypto it's a certain push towards adoption and utility.
So far Amazon hasn't been denying any involvement in the blockchain space. Amazon Web Services was also present at Consensus, which is an event meant for the blockchain market. The company is definitely looking into the potential of blockchain in a same way Microsoft is implementing blockchain features into its Azure services.
Whether Amazon is actually jumping on board is not yet known. But there are more major corporations eyeing blockchain. Oil companies want to use blockchain for their supply chains, while retailers are starting to accept cryptocurrencies. Car companies are implementing blockchain-based systems into their electric cars, while even Starbucks is getting in on the action.
