In a surprising move, Microsoft decided to accept bitcoin payments from customers interested to acquire Windows Store content. In addition to that, Microsoft account holders can also use this payment method to fund the purchase of Xbox Games, Xbox Music, as well as Xbox Video. The blog post that made this official earlier this week reveals that "Starting Thursday in the U.S., by using BitPay, the world’s leading bitcoin payment processor, you can trade-in bitcoin – at current market value — and add it to your Microsoft account."
There are multiple limitations that apply to this news payment method, including those below:
only customers in the US can use it for now
bitcoin cannot be used for direct payments, but only to put funds into Microsoft accounts
$1,000 USD is the maximum amount that can be exchanged in a day, but also less than $5,000 USD to additional Microsoft accounts registered in one's name or by the user him/herself
BitPay currently offers support for more than 50,000 businesses, including big names such as Newegg, TigerDirect, or Virgin Galactic. According to Eric Lockard, corporate vice president of Universal Store at Microsoft, "The use of digital currencies such as bitcoin, while not yet mainstream, is growing beyond the early enthusiasts. We expect this growth to continue and allowing people to use bitcoin to purchase our products and services now allows us to be at the front edge of that trend."
Codrut Nistor - Senior Tech Writer - 6202 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2013
In my early school days, I hated writing and having to make up stories. A decade later, I started to enjoy it. Since then, I published a few offline articles and then I moved to the online space, where I contributed to major websites that are still present online as of 2021 such as Softpedia, Brothersoft, Download3000, but I also wrote for multiple blogs that have disappeared over the years. I've been riding with the Notebookcheck crew since 2013 and I am not planning to leave it anytime soon. In love with good mechanical keyboards, vinyl and tape sound, but also smartphones, streaming services, and digital art.
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