Bitcoin was redrawing the future of online transactions a few years ago, but the technological limitations of the blockchain system seem to keep back cryptocurrencies so much as more companies are giving up using this method of payment. Recently, Valve, the company behind Steam's digital distribution system, gave up payments via Bitcoin and now Microsoft seems to go in the same direction, stopping the possibility to pay in cryptocurrencies on its sites.
The reason behind this decision is not a technical one, but it seems to be the "instability" of cryptocurrencies market. Their value fluctuates a lot over the last few weeks. Bitcoin for example has been down from nearly 20,000$ to 12,000$ and has recently stabilized around 15,000$. Since Microsoft products sold in exchange for Bitcoin may cost only a few dollars, with a processing fee of up to 20$, the company or customer may lose money on each transaction, compared to sales using cash or credit cards.
In the case of Microsoft, the payment system requires adding credit to your personal account using Bitcoin, after which they could be spent. The process that may take several days, given the long waiting times for transaction processing and in order to keep small fees.
The company suggests users switch to alternative payment methods, not to mention whether they will reinstate Bitcoin's payment in the future. This is not the first time that Microsoft stops cryptocurrencies transactions as similar situations have been encountered a few years ago.
Will they find a solution for this or are they willing to do so?...not sure. I guess it remains also in the responsibility of the blockchain to address this issue and come up with solutions to this either for current cryptos or for some kind of a new one, but which would have to keep its value steady. But, as we know it, in a free market it is the demand and supply at a moment in time which sets the price and there aren't any regulation for this. Of course we want to keep it this way, but it seems that there are some business constraints when using them in real life and this needs to be solved somehow.
Hi everyone!
I should also add that many people see this as serious indication that Microsoft is getting ready to launch its own AltCoin.
Who knows!
Cheers!
Seriously? Why?
Volatility in price, up and down, unclear profit margins when selling real goods.
Si lamentablemente Bitcoin se ha vuelto lento, y su inestabilidad es muy grande, pero aun así pienso y creo que esta moneda todavía tiene un gran futuro y este año va muy bueno para esta moneda y para la mayoría de las demás criptomonedas.
bad news for the holders but definitely good news for those who are planning to start, like me