Skip to main content

Microsoft quietly drops Bitcoin support for Microsoft Store payments

bitcoin cash becomes second most valued cryptocurrency
Lightboxx/123RF
Much was made of Microsoft’s move two years ago to start accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for purchasing content from its online store.

The situation has, however, quietly changed, as the computer giant has recently added a note to its website revealing it’s no longer accepting the cryptocurrency in the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 devices.

Related Videos

“You can no longer redeem Bitcoin into your Microsoft account,” the message says, though adds that existing balances in user accounts “will still be available for purchases from Microsoft Store, but can’t be refunded.” So to be clear, any funds in your account now are good to use, but forget trying to make any new deposits into your account using Bitcoin.

It’s not known why the computer giant has had a change of heart over the digital currency, though software database and tech news site Softpedia, which spotted the change, suggested the number of Bitcoin-based transactions with Microsoft remained small over the last two years. As a result, the computer company “has no reason to continue keeping it as a supported digital currency.”

The company’s support for Bitcoin allowed users to add funds to a Microsoft account and then spend them on items such as games, music, and videos – though not physical merchandise – in Microsoft’s online store.

The feature never rolled out beyond the U.S., adding weight to the suggestion that user interest failed to grow to any notable extent.

While Microsoft’s recently posted message states its position on Bitcoin for Windows 10 devices, its stance on Xbox-related purchases isn’t clear. We’ve reached out to the Redmond-based company for clarification and will update when we hear back.

Editors' Recommendations

GPT-4: how to use, new features, availability, and more
A laptop opened to the ChatGPT website.

ChatGPT-4 has officially been announced, confirming the longtime rumors around its improvements to the already incredibly impressive language skills of OpenAI's ChatGPT.

OpenAI calls it the company's "most advanced system, producing safer and more useful responses." Here's everything we know about it so far.
Availability

Read more
How Microsoft 365 Copilot unleashes ChatGPT from its restraints
Copilot in Microsoft Word generating results.

Thanks to ChatGPT, natural language AI has taken the world by storm. But so far, it's felt boxed in. With these chatbots, everything happens in one window, with one search bar to type into.

We've always known these large language models could do far more, though, and it was only a matter of time until that potential was unlocked. Microsoft has just announced Copilot, its own integration of ChatGPT into all its Microsoft 365 apps, including Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more. And finally, we're seeing the way generative AI is going to be used more commonly in the future -- and it's not necessarily as a straightforward chatbot.
Bringing natural language into apps

Read more
Firefox just got a great new way to protect your privacy
Canva in Firefox on a MacBook.

If you’re fed up with signing up for new accounts online and then being perpetually spammed in the days and weeks after, Mozilla has an idea that could help. The company has just announced its Firefox Relay feature is being directly integrated into its Firefox web browser, and it could help guarantee your privacy without any extra hassle.

Firefox Relay works by letting you create email “masks” when you sign up for new accounts. Instead of entering your real credentials into the sign-up field, Firefox Relay provides you with a throwaway address and phone number to use. Any messages from the website -- such as purchase receipts -- are then forwarded to your real email address, with all the sender’s tracking information stripped out to protect your privacy.

Read more