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First Reactions to Microsoft’s Adoption of Bitcoin

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:42 PM
Giulio Prisco
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:42 PM

MicrosoftYesterday’s announcement that Microsoft is now accepting payments in Bitcoin for many of its digital products is, predictably, all over the news. Microsoft’s adoption of Bitcoin is considered as a very important boost for the digital currency.

Also read: Microsoft Now Accepts Bitcoin Through BitPay

BBC News  notes that Bitcoin is slowly making its way into mainstream businesses, and now Paypal, Dell, Expedia, Newegg, Microsoft and many other firms accept payments in Bitcoin.

One reason Microsoft is adopting Bitcoin is because it’ll help make international payment processing more convenient, said BitPay cofounder and executive chairman Tony Gallippi in a phone interview with Forbes .

“They’re a global company. People are using their products and operating system in many parts of the world that don’t have credit card penetration.It’s difficult for many consumers to actually be able to put money in their Microsoft accounts.”

Eric Lockard, corporate vice president of Universal Store at Microsoft, said on Microsoft’s official blog :

“For us, this is about giving people options and helping them do more on their devices and in the cloud. 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.”

A press release from BitPay says:

Today’s announcement from Microsoft is a significant step forward for Bitcoin. BitPay is excited to help Microsoft accept bitcoin for digital products. Microsoft customers can now use bitcoin in the Windows Store and in stores that house Xbox content. [W]e have enjoyed building our relationship with Microsoft and look forward to continuing our work together on innovative Bitcoin projects and business models. Please join us in welcoming Microsoft as the newest member of the Bitcoin economy.”

At this moment, only people in the US can fund their Microsoft accounts with Bitcoin.

Having Younger Kids Use Bitcoin is Huge

In a trending discussion on Reddit titled “Why Microsoft’s acceptance of Bitcoin is a bigger deal than you think ” Redditor busterroni says that having younger kids use Bitcoin is huge:

“Microsoft appeals to a younger audience than almost all of the big companies that currently accept Bitcoin. Younger kids and teenagers play Xbox, and buy Xbox Live. When kids see Bitcoin’s big, bright, B logo, they’ll get interested and probably use the Internet to look it up. They’ll look at Bitcoin as money of the future, something that is shaping history. They may not understand its significance in terms of the mathematical beauty behind it, or the power it provides to people, but they’ll think of it as a magical new thing that they can be a part of.”

Images from Microsoft, Barone Firenze and Shutterstock.