Amazon Launches Virtual Currency on Kindle Fire

Users given $5 worth of Amazon Coins

E-commerce leviathan Amazon today is taking a step into social gaming: Amazon Coins, its new virtual currency, is now live in the U.S. To kick it off, Amazon announced that it would put $5 worth of the currency — equivalent to 500 Coins — into all Kindle Fire users' accounts to use on apps and in-app purchases on its platform. The company says that this is equivalent to "tens of millions of dollars" worth of Amazon Coins.