Microsoft Planning Aggressive Global Implementation; Thinking Long Term on Bitcoin

By Clay Michael Gillespie

Recently the technology giant Microsoft made bitcoin payments an option for all of their United States customers on everything from tablets and phones to services like Xbox Live. Their plans aren’t just for the basics though.

BitPay, the payment processor Microsoft partnered with to begin accepting bitcoins, recently spoke out about Microsoft’s vision into the future. Sonny Singh, BitPay’s chief commercial officer, said the following in an interview with CoinDesk:  

“Microsoft has a long-term vision for bitcoin, BitPay and the blockchain. Starting with digital goods in the US is the logical first step, however, they want to expand to Europe and globally and add support for other products as part of that rollout.”

Microsoft is able to ease into bitcoin by using BitPay. The payment processing company exchanges USD for bitcoins in real time, allowing companies to pick and choose how much traditional currency they keep in relation to digital. BitPay gives Microsoft the freedom to let their customers pay for goods and services how they want to, while Microsoft avoids any market volatility.

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Microsoft Is Now the Largest Company in the World to Accept Bitcoin

By KIM LACHANCE SHANDROW

Last October Bill Gates gave Bitcoin a big boost. He said it’s “exciting” and “better” than traditional currency. Apparently his underlings at Microsoft listened up and quick. After all, Gates is officially their technical advisor.    

Now, in partnership with Richard Branson-backed Bitcoin transaction processor BitPay, the software company Gates co-founded -- the world’s largest and richest -- is accepting the cryptocurrency as payment for downloadable digital content.

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Microsoft Adds Bitcoin Payments for Xbox Games and Mobile Content

By Stan Higgins

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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