Steam has stopped accepting payments in Bitcoin due to the high volatility of cryptocurrency

In the cryptocurrency sphere, there has long been a discussion about what bitcoin is - a means of payment or a purely speculative tool. While the controversy is going, Valve decided to abandon Bitcoin as a means of payment when Steam. The reason is that the cryptocurrency volatility is too high. For the first time, service began to accept payments in Bitcoin in April 2016, after several years of discussing this possibility. The reason for the rejection of cryptomonet is not only volatility, but also high commissions in the system, compared to making payments using traditional methods.



“Over the past few months, we have seen an increase in volatility in relation to the price of cryptocurrency, as well as a significant increase in the system commission for processing transactions on the Bitcoin network,” said Curtis Chinn, a Valve representative. "The system commission for network users took off, amounting to about $ 20 per transaction - this is much higher than the 20 cents that the system took for the transaction at the moment when we added payments in cryptocurrency."



The commissions themselves do not frighten anyone, because they are part of the world of finance. The same Visa or MasterCard charge for carrying out almost any credit card transaction. But the amount of commission in the case of these companies rarely exceeds a couple of US dollars. When working with Bitcoin, a fee is charged on any transaction initiated by the user. Well, since the Bitcoin rate is constantly growing, then the size of the commission increases. As a result, the user who buys the game receives a significant increase in the price tag due to the commission. As for Steam, the payment of the commission lies on the side of the buyer, who should compensate for it. Plus, payment does not occur immediately, but after a while, after the payment is processed by the system and the transaction is confirmed.



“Unfortunately, nothing depends on Valve in this case,” wrote Chinn. "The commission of the system leads to an inadequately high price of the purchased game, when making a purchase for bitcoins."



The cost of cryptocurrency is growing all the time. For example, last week one bitcoin cost $ 9,500. Now the course has already broken through the $ 14,000 mark and is moving forward. All this creates logistical and financial problems for companies that accept Bitcoin as a means of payment.



“Historically, the Bitcoin rate has a high volatility, but over the past few months, this figure has increased many times, so the growth rate can be about 20% in just a few days. This also creates problems for buyers who want to buy games for bitcoins, ”says Chinn.



Worst of all, rate changes occur very quickly. The user can already pay for the game, but the bitcoin rate rises during the transaction. Consequently, the price is rising, and Valve in a normal situation, you need to return the balance. But, again, when conducting such a transaction, a commission will be charged, which is neither beneficial for the user nor Valve. It turns out something like a vicious circle, which gets more and more players.



For Valve, the answer to this situation is to give up Bitcoin. And this is a prime example of problems with cryptocurrency as a means of payment. It must be assumed that technical difficulties in conducting a transaction with cryptomonet arise not only from Valve but also from any other companies that decide to accept Bitcoin. The company is not going to give up bitcoin completely - they can start accepting cryptocurrency again, but only if the above problems are solved in any way.







"We can reassess the situation in the event that Bitcoin again becomes an acceptable means of payment," - said in the company's block.



Now less and less people who have Bitcoins are ready to give them as payment for goods or services. "Now people invest a little extra money in Bitcoin, see how it grows, and hope for the best, and do not use it in the real world," said GFI Securities strategist John Spallanzani. This unavailability of kryptomonet holders to part with them leads to the fact that fewer and fewer services receive bitcoins as payment. For example, the London salon Fifth Dimension Tattoo & Piercing relatively long ago announced its readiness to accept payment in cryptocurrency. But so far no deals have been made.