Valve corporation explained Wednesday the transactions fees for the cryptocurrency have skyrocketed to $20 from the initial level of $0.20 and now players must shoulder those fees. The company expressed concerns that the cryptocurrency may abruptly lose value meanwhile, which would make transactions even more burdening for consumers.
Usually, when the value of the cryptocurrency goes up, during the transaction, the platform has to refund the difference, but the fees for that operation is the buyer’s business.
Valve noted that there have been dozens of cases when the value of bitcoin changed before the transaction was finalized. Valve is concerned that the value of the coin could change multiple times during the transaction, which leads to even more troubles.
Bitcoin Payments Could Return, Steam Says
Steam added that it plans to roll back its decision if Bitcoin becomes more stable. However, for the moment, the payment method is available only to buyers that are not concerned about the transaction fees and underpayments.
Last week, the cryptocurrency’s value jumped to $10,000 or 933% since the beginning of the year. Some countries including South Korea, Russia, and China either banned or placed tight restrictions on the cryptocurrency.
The computer game network first accepted Bitcoin as a payment method in April in a response to Chinese, Indian, and Brazilian players’ request to be able to pay for their purchases with the said currency.
Users were given bitcoin wallets which enabled them to purchase games and other products without unveiling their financial information. Valve at the time had more than 100 million users globally.
In China, India, and Brazil, users cannot use credit cards as payment methods since they aren’t available in their countries. Bitcoin was supposed to fix that problem.
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