Skip to main content

Bitcoin botch: Microsoft apologizes, says it will support the currency after all

Bitcoin
Bitcoin looked to have suffered a bit of a knock on Sunday when Microsoft announced on its site it was no longer accepting the cryptocurrency for digital purchases in its online store.

It turns out that Microsoft’s message was posted “inadvertently,” and the company will continue to accept Bitcoin after all.

Related Videos

In a statement to Digital Trends, a spokesperson for the company said: “We continue to support Bitcoin for adding money to your Microsoft account which can be used for purchasing content in the Windows and Xbox stores.”

The message ended: “We apologize for inaccurate information that was inadvertently posted to a Microsoft site, which is currently being corrected.”

The original post said, “You can no longer redeem Bitcoin into your Microsoft account,” though added that existing balances in user accounts “will still be available for purchases from Microsoft Store, but can’t be refunded.”

That page has now been removed, with the link redirecting to the Windows 10 support site. Another page provides details on how to use Bitcoin to add funds to your Microsoft account for buying “apps, games, and other digital content from Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox Games, Xbox Music, or Xbox Video stores.”

Microsoft became one of the biggest tech groups to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment when it announced the move toward the end of 2014.

It’s far from clear how the company came to make Sunday’s erroneous announcement regarding the cryptocurrency, but the news of its continued support is certain to be welcomed by any Microsoft Store shoppers with Bitcoin in the bank.

Editors' Recommendations

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
These are the new AI features coming to Gmail, Google Docs, and Sheets
Google has announced a host of new writing focused AI features for its Workspace suite.

Google Workspace is getting a generative AI boost at the same time that many other productivity suites are adding new features that allow users to simplify clerical tasks with just a prompt.

Following up on the visual redesign to Google Docs and the announcement of Google Bard, these new AI features are the company's latest attempt to bring more buzzy goodness to its most popular applications.

Read more
Edge Copilot finally delivers on Microsoft’s Bing Chat promises
Here's Microsoft's example of how Bing chat will work in the future.

Microsoft is finally making the version of Bing Chat we heard about in February a reality. The latest version of Microsoft Edge (111.0.1661.41) includes the Bing Copoilot sidebar, which allows you to chat, generate AI content, and get insights into topics powered by AI.

This is the form of Bing Chat Microsoft originally pitched. Since its launch, the chat portion of Bing Chat has been available through a waitlist that, according to Microsoft, has amassed millions of sign-ups. However, Microsoft also talked about Bing Copilot, which would live in the Edge sidebar and open up the possibility of generating emails, blog posts, and more, as well as provide context for whatever web page you were on.

Read more