Due to the fluctuating nature of Bitcoin values and the erratic price changes in transaction fees, Valve has decided to cut ties with allowing customers to use Bitcoin as a payment method.

The news comes courtesy of a post over on the Steam Community page that was published on December 6th, 2017. In the post Valve explained…

“n the past few months we’ve seen an increase in the volatility in the value of Bitcoin and a significant increase in the fees to process transactions on the Bitcoin network. For example, transaction fees that are charged to the customer by the Bitcoin network have skyrocketed this year, topping out at close to $20 a transaction last week (compared to roughly $0.20 when we initially enabled Bitcoin). Unfortunately, Valve has no control over the amount of the fee. These fees result in unreasonably high costs for purchasing games when paying with Bitcoin. The high transaction fees cause even greater problems when the value of Bitcoin itself drops dramatically.”

Valve notes that an increasing number of customers have attempted to transfer over Bitcoin currency to purchase a game, and then after purchasing the game attempt to get a refund only to find that the value of the Bitcoin currency has fluctuated, and therefore Valve may either owe back more or less than what the original game may have cost.

The main issue is that right now the price is volatile and created a headache for the accounting department.

Quite naturally this move did not go down well with Bitcoin users, who stated that Valve should partner up with different cryptocurrency processors instead of removing Bitcoin as a payment option.

The comment section is filled with Bitcoin fanboys, angry at Valve for removing the payment option, along with others who are against cryptocurrencies, believing it will demolish American democracy.

Buck Wild was one of the gamers against the decision, writing…

“Let the consumer decide on paying the transaction fees, after all it’s the consumers who want bitcoin.yes the price is volatile but you as a large company should be cashing out on the to prevent price fluctuations. It’s a decentralized currency so the price goes up on demand, which can be good and bad.

 

“I am cypto enthusiast, i have money into crypto’s, and steam was the first few place i used bitcoin to buy something. You guys should bring back bitcoin, and allow other blockchain currencies as well… “

Some countered the argument by saying that they’ve been burned due to long wait times on the transactions – one user claims they had to wait up to 14 days and within that time the transaction fees increased drastically within that time.

For the people angry at Valve, user ooczzy offered a reasonable solution in the form of converting to the regional currency and then adding the money to Steam Wallet…

“i mean people could technically convert bitcoin into real money in other platforms then use it to purchase from steam. I really don’t get what the big fuss is about, its just one additional step. I understand Valve is being wary of volatility though.”

Well, if you decide to buy anything from Steam now, you won’t be able to use your Bitcoin currency to do so. It’s back to those ancient old methods of using PayPal, debit cards, and credit.