Speculation from a recent public poll conducted via Twitter shows that top Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba, is likely to be the next global giant to accept Bitcoin.

52 percent of 4,500 participants in the survey put together by the owner of Digital Currency Group, Barry Silbert, are of the view that the Chinese company is next in line to embrace the virtual currency, topping the likes of Amazon (31 percent), Google (12 percent) and Facebook (5 percent) as the first of the groups to get serious about Bitcoin.

The people’s opinion is not an indication that the companies mentioned would choose to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Also, there is no particular information on the specifics of the poll’s participants with regards to their age groups, location, interests and earning capabilities as well as other factors.

However, what could be considered interesting on the other hand is the fact that if one of these global giants choose to accept the use of Bitcoin, it will encourage others to follow suite especially if the digital currency’s addition to the operation improves the profit margin of the first company. This could be an extension of the already-existing use of Bitcoin as a form of payment to purchase items indirectly from merchants like Amazon through third party services like Purse.

Though none of the said companies has officially expressed any interest in accepting the digital currency as a form of payment, Alibaba stands a better chance of being the first to start accepting Bitcoin. There have been several reports that Alibaba, through its affiliate company, Ant Financial Services, has been edging towards embracing the Blockchain technology which powers Bitcoin in its operation.

Aside that, the company is China-based, has a global approach and is surrounded by countries in the in Asian markets where there is a high level digital currency awareness and regulations have been discussed or introduced e.g. China, India and Japan.

The key issues could be standing in the way are the price volatility, the increase in transaction fees which are not in any way friendly for new entrants to embrace and the Chinese companies steering clear of using Bitcoin as a currency as proposed by the Chinese government.