Microsoft Adds Bitcoin Payments for Xbox Games and Mobile Content

[froggyboy604]

Global computing giant Microsoft has added bitcoin as a payment option for a variety of digital content across its online platforms.

According to the company’s payments information page, US-based customers can now use bitcoin to add money to their accounts, which can then be used to purchase content like apps, games and videos from its Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox platforms.

The surprise announcement, which is the result of an integration with Georgia-based bitcoin processor BitPay, adds yet another major tech player to the bitcoin ecosystem – Microsoft boasts a market cap of more than $380bn and annual revenue in excess of $86.8bn in 2014.

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Hopefully, Bitcoin spending expands to the Microsoft Stores, so people can also buy physical products like Xbox One, Disc games, computers, tablets, laptops, and phones with Bitcoin instead of regular cash and credit cards.

This is great news for people who have a lot of Bitcoin. I bet this would also increase the number of Xbox One buyers since I bet a lot of the people who have Bitcoin are also gamers.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

something made up, is becoming way too popular.

 

[froggyboy604]

Money is also made up, and very popular around the world. People used to use Gold, Silver, and other rare metals to buy stuff. People also used to barter where they trade things like bread for something else like a spoon.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

Coins and paper money are backed by gold and whatever else. What is bitcoins being backed by?

 

[froggyboy604]

Coins and paper money are backed by gold and whatever else. What is bitcoins being backed by?

Bitcoin is Not Backed by Anything (And That’s OK!)

Bitcoin is not backed by anything; you can’t “redeem” your Bitcoin for gold at a bank. And it’s not even “backed” by declaration of law. To hard-money folks like myself, that sounds like a recipe for inflationary disaster. But, as implausible as it sounds, Bitcoin is not susceptible to arbitrary inflation. It was intentionally designed this way.

Inflation ultimately happens for one reason: central control over the power to create new money – whether it’s a government trying to pay its debts, or a central bank trying to ease monetary policy. This is one reason why Bitcoin avoids arbitrary inflation: its supply is not controlled by any central authority. The supply is regulated by software and mathematics, not politics. Power in the Bitcoin world is decentralized over an enormous network of computers.

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