Walmart patents own cryptocurrency as battle with Amazon for retail intensifies

Walmart intends to use the cryptocurrency to collect customer purchase history to improve inventory forecasts and predict consumer behavior, increasing the firm's profitability.

The two titans of retail, Amazon and Walmart, are battling for the future of retail.

Similar to Amazon Go, Walmart appears to be contemplating an entrance.

The patent filing mentions "Micromarkets," which would provide an "Unattended retail environment where consumers can purchase products from open shelves and use a self-checkout kiosk to pay for products." Walmart Coin would serve to facilitate quick payment at these micromarkets.

Walmart even envisions incorporating its cryptocurrency with other types of tender, like credit cards, business accounts, and even government assistance programs like WIC and TANF. For example, with such a system, alcohol payments could get charged to a credit card, food purchases to WIC, and office supplies to a business account automatically.

In some embodiments, Walmart even says the "Digital currency value could, in some embodiments, be tied to other digital currencies," like Bitcoin.

Walmart explicitly intends to collect customer purchase history to improve inventory forecasts and predict consumer behavior.

Many of the retailer's customers already use Walmart for the majority of their financial services, with Walmart's 'Money Centers.

Adding a cryptocurrency into the mix would give Walmart an unprecedented look into its customers' finances.

It seems like a matter of time before Amazon and other large corporation makes their own moves into cryptocurrency.