Microsoft is sending mixed signals about its true intentions regarding bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto currency market in general. On the one hand, Microsoft chairman Brad Smith gave an interview earlier this year in which he said the multinational had no interest in bitcoin and claimed that Tesla’s decision to invest $1.5 billion made no difference to the company.

A few days ago, however, the tech giant seemed to change its mind by releasing an online survey asking customers how they would like to pay for their Xbox Games Store purchases in the future, with bitcoin being one of the top options on the list.

The development also comes shortly after Smith said fintech companies don’t need to issue their own digital currencies. He argued that central banks should be concerned with the common good of the masses and thus should be the ones managing the flow of the global money supply.

If bitcoin is indeed accepted as a payment method in the Xbox Games Store, it wouldn’t be the first time Microsoft has ventured into crypto currency, as in 2014 the company accepted bitcoin to fund its accounts, which allowed US users to purchase all Windows Store content, including Xbox games.

However, the company’s crypto sales came to a halt in 2018 when the general market went into a frenzied bear market that sent the value of most cryptocurrencies to relatively low levels. However, earlier this year, Microsoft again decided to allow bitcoin payments, but only for its MS Store.

Does the importance of Microsoft change anything in the industry?

The 24th. In March, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that his company would be accepting bitcoin as a payment method for its cars, prompting many in the social media world to finally bring the crypto to the forefront. But even if that’s the case, it’s unclear whether BTC will become the primary means of payment when other major companies like Microsoft, which have questioned cryptocurrencies in the past, do allow them as a means of payment.

On that note, Joe Zhou, founder and CEO of FirstBlood, a blockchain-based esports platform, told Cointelegraph that this development looks generally positive on paper, especially since it will help increase the adoption of crypto in the global digital landscape.

So far, game manufacturers have not been the first to adopt this technology. For example, the makers of League of Legends, Riot Games, do not have a blockchain policy. I think it is. If you allow your users to use cryptocurrencies for purchases in your ecosystem, your competitors will be more inclined to follow you, otherwise they will lose out.

Zhou went on to say that if Microsoft decides to allow crypto payments, it could potentially lay the perfect foundation for the marriage between the gaming and crypto communities, especially since he believes gamers between the ages of 18 and 35 are most likely to choose digital currencies in the future.

Ultimately, he believes that apps like Cash App and PayPal, which allow users to buy and store cryptocurrencies, will help unite the two worlds and enable even greater adoption in the gaming community. I would be very curious to see how Microsoft’s treasury would handle its crypto revenue. Will they be sent to landfills? Or they will keep them like Tesla and MicroStrategy, he added.

Is Microsoft myopic in its cryptographic perspective?

While many believe Microsoft’s interest in integrating crypto currency into its existing payment system is a sign of great things to come, Andrew Colosimo, co-founder of Xaya – a digital asset management gaming platform – told Cointelegraph that while the development is a positive sign in itself, he’s not entirely sure it will have much direct impact on bitcoin, adding

Transaction fees could add more than $5 to the existing cost, unless Microsoft wants to use payment channels like the Lightning Network, as some people in this thread have already suggested. Players will only pay for what costs less. More importantly, no one wants to spend their bitcoin.

However, he acknowledged that if just one major player like Microsoft starts accepting BTC as a form of payment, it could create a Ripple effect that would potentially cause other console operators to follow suit.

Hatem Hachana, COO of the Utopia Genesis Foundation – a blockchain-based platform for tokenizing music rights, assets, and royalties – also believes that most players are already familiar with the concept of in-game purchases, so adding a crypto payment option wouldn’t make much difference, even if it became even more widely accepted.

He added: If Microsoft accepts this, Sony and Nintendo will surely follow. If you look at the field as a whole, everyone is adapting, moving forward and integrating crypto.

The introduction of cryptography makes sense

It’s likely that Microsoft is sensing a new trend around crypto, especially with regard to the incomprehensible token market – an area that has been booming recently. To put things in perspective: The market for digital collectibles has grown significantly in recent months as more and more celebrities take advantage of the trend to digitize their artwork.

Looks like it: NFT Art Revolution: Knocking about his 5040 days of work of love.

For example, Jack Dorsey’s first tweet as an NFT recently sold for $2.9 million. Also, Mike Winkelman – the artist known as Bipple – recently sold one of his works to the Christie’s auction house for a whopping $69 million, making him one of the most valuable artists in the world.

So Microsoft has every reason to re-explore this ever-evolving space and potentially expose its huge customer base – the number of people who own an Xbox One console is estimated to be around 48.69 million – to the digital asset market. When BTC returns to the platform as a payment method, it will mark as a crypto currency exchange point, suggesting it could stay there for some time.

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