Whether or not it is due to low transaction volume or any other reason, an announcement has been posted on the Microsoft Store as to how they are no longer accepting Bitcoin payments. Or to be more precise, they are not doing so for Windows 10 or Windows 10 mobile. Users are still able to spend existing balances but new deposits are no longer available.
It would appear as if Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is trying to make a push for replacing Bitcoin with Ethereum across all of their offerings. One the one hand, the company, is pushing hard to promote their Ethereum blockchain-as-a-service product while they have also partially removed Bitcoin payment support from the Microsoft Store. Some people see this as a sign of how Ethereum will replace Bitcoin on the merchant side very soon, but that may be the overexcitement speaking, rather than common sense.
Also read: Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis – Buying Dips Favored
Microsoft and Bitcoin is Not A Happy Relationship
Although the announcement by the technology giant regarding the acceptance of Bitcoin payments was greeted with a lot of joy by the digital currency community, things have gotten eerily quiet ever since. Granted, there are only so many products people need to buy from Microsoft at any given time, and the fact Bitcoin payments were not available to consumers all over the world did not help matters much either.
Whether or not it is due to low transaction volume or any other reason, an announcement has been posted on the Microsoft Store as to how they are no longer accepting Bitcoin payments. Or to be more precise, they are not doing so for Windows 10 or Windows 10 mobile. Users are still able to spend existing balances, but new deposits are no longer available.
That being said, Xbox users can still make Bitcoin deposits to their account without any problems. This seems rather odd, considering Bitcoin payments will be done on a mobile device or computer most of the time, yet users have to resort to console access to send money over. At this time, it remains unknown whether or not the Xbox Bitcoin functionality will be removed as well.
Moreover, the Commerce site of Microsoft is still accepting Bitcoin payments as well, giving consumers an alternative option to spend Bitcoin on goods and services. However, once again, this service not available to Bitcoin users all over the world, somewhat limiting the value of accepting Bitcoin payments.
For the time being, there seems to be a fair bit of confusion surrounding this Microsoft announcement, and what it means exactly. There are multiple easy ways to circumvent this “problem” as Microsoft has not removed Bitcoin support entirely. But that is not keeping people from spouting new theories, such as how Ethereum will be added as a payment method for Microsoft users soon.
No Plans To Add Ether Anytime Soon
All of the excitement associated with the Ethereum project right now is making people say some things that do not make sense at all. For example, certain people assume Microsoft will be adding Ether as a payment option soon, simply because their Azure service is heavily promoting the Ethereum blockchain-as-a-service concept.
There is nothing wrong with being excited about Ethereum as a project, though. That being said, people who keep referring to Ether or Ethereum at any given turn something exciting happens in technology or digital currency will not do the project any favors shortly. Blockchain fatigue has become a real thing, as there is no reason to think people can’t suffer from Ethereum fatigue in the near future.
Source: Reddit
Source : http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/03/13/microsoft-limits-bitcoin-usage-but-has-no-plans-to-add-ether/
