Microsoft has dropped bitcoin payments, just over a year after announcing it would support the virtual currency at its Windows Store.
The tech giant entered a partnership with payment firm Bitpay in December 2014, in what was seen as a forward-thinking move.
The company said it was supporting bitcoin as a way of "giving people options and helping them do more on their devices and in the cloud".
The change of heart emerged through a change to Microsoft's How-to notes on its website.
A post with the heading "Microsoft Store doesn't accept bitcoin" says: "You can no longer redeem bitcoin into your Microsoft account. Existing balances in your account will still be available for purchases from Microsoft Store, but can't be refunded."
The decision suggests bitcoin is still some way from being recognised as a mainstream global currency.
The bitcoin community has been divided over whether changes need to be made to the currency's infrastructure to increase capacity as it has grown in the years since pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto took a back seat.
The mystery over the identity of bitcoin's creator continues, three months after Wired magazine named Sydney-based Craig Wright as the brains behind the project.
The creator has around a million bitcoins, worth more than £289m at current exchange rates.
Since its launch, bitcoin has grown from a digital novelty to a currency with a total value of around £3.3bn.
No comments:
Post a Comment