On the r/Bitcoin subreddit, it’s all about Microsoft and Bitcoin, as the tech giant seemingly stopped accepting the flagship cryptocurrency, according to various top threads. One points to Microsoft following Steam’s footsteps in no longer accepting Bitcoin. The rumor stems from a Bleeping Computer article that claims the software and hardware giant did halt Bitcoin payments.

On top of the thread, an r/Bitcoin admin stickied a post stating various users tried to find the Bitcoin payment option but were unable to. His comment notes he believes it’s “clear that small retail payments don’t make economic sense for Bitcoin right now,” and that although everything points to the rumor being true, it is still unverified as there was no official statement on Microsoft’s end.

Another top thread on Reddit claims Microsoft does still accept Bitcoin payments, and that shills are just trying to fill the subreddit with fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). Per this thread, Microsoft allows users to add a predetermined amount of dollars to their balance using Bitcoin, so the tech giant does indirectly accept the flagship cryptocurrency.

So, which is it? To find out, we at CCN.com decided to try to make a purchase using Bitcoin. We quickly found out the Bitcoin payment option wasn’t there. Refusing to pay with fiat, we contacted customer support.

Does Microsoft still accept Bitcoin?

Chatting with Microsoft’s customer support, we were told the company no longer accepts Bitcoin as a payment option. Notably, the company has seemingly decided to stop accepting the cryptocurrency since July 2017.

Give the unsatisfactory answer we were given, we pressed the issue and were connected to a member of the Higher support from Microsoft’s Accounts and Billing team. He confirmed Microsoft has stopped accepting Bitcoin due to “multiple issues we are receiving with regards to it.” When pressed, he revealed that “there’s no other information cascaded to us on why Microsoft stopped accepting Bitcoin as a payment info aside from the problem processing the payments.”

Microsoft still has a how-to page on its website explaining how users can top up their accounts with Bitcoin. Asked about this, we were told the process no longer works, as Microsoft stopped accepting Bitcoin.

Given that the company updated its systems to stop accepting the cryptocurrency back in July when Bitcoin was still at about $2,500, we asked if the move was due to a lack of customer demand. We weren’t given a lot of details, but we were told “3 out of 5 customers” were currently having issues with Bitcoin. Microsoft support further revealed that the company has “3 escalations that the redeem Bitcoin is not reflecting on their Microsoft account.”

It seems the cryptocurrency community is already making it clear people want to use Bitcoin as a payment method. As for our purchase, we refused to pay with fiat and asked if this was about the current problems Bitcoin’s network is facing and if the company will accept Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency in the future. Here’s the answer we got:

Not the first time

It’s worth noting this isn’t the first time Microsoft stops accepting Bitcoin. As reported by CCN.com, the software and hardware giant put the breaks on cryptocurrency payments in 2016, Little after the company’s move started making headlines, it apologized for what it deemed “inaccurate information,” and revealed Bitcoin would still be accepted.

At the time, the how-to detailing the process used to add money to a user’s account using Bitcoin was still active, just like it still is now. Given that there was no official announcement so far, some suspect this may all be another flop.

Microsoft originally started accepting Bitcoin via BitPay in December 2014. At the time, the move was met with much fanfare, as the company joined the ranks of other large companies like Dell, Newegg, and TigerDirect in accepting Bitcoin.

Reach out to Francisco Memoria via Twitter @FranciscoMemor

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