Bring Back Bitcoin

[Monsterbitar]

Some years back it was possible to pay with Bitcoin here on steam, and I loved it. Then came the 2017 bubble, the sad fee market, unstable confirmation times and steam removed this support because it was a customer support nightmare.

I'm sorry steam had to live through that, but I want steam to support Cryptocurrencies again, specifically Bitcoin Cash (BCH), since it has been upgraded specifically to resolve the issues that Bitcoin had back then.

If steam still feels burnt by the experience, I suggest re-adding it for a single service at first: topping up the steam wallet. This would mean that if a user has a problem with a game or wants a refund for something they bought, steam can just refund back to the steam wallet.

A final note, I was recommended to post this here by the steam support when making an inquiry about it, so we know they are not 100% against it - and that means it's a good idea to make a show of hands:

How many of you here would pay with cryptocurrencies if steam supported that?

EDIT: removed poor wording (on behalf of)

[redcoat_]

I would absolutely jump at the chance to order a Valve Index setup if I could pay using Bitcoin Cash (BCH).... and not just because the value of my coins would rise if steam adopted it 😏

Often when people talk about bitcoin they are referring to the old BTC chain that was sabotaged a few years back when legacy financial institutions started funding a bunch of the developers and paid them to limit the transactional capacity so fees would sky rocket and no one would use it.

Being a decentralised currency we simply forked around them and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) works better than ever with sub cent fees and a lager capacity than PayPals daily volume with plenty of room to grow further.

Steam understood the massive potential of digital cash when they originally accepted bitcoin, they got burned but that was just a temporary set back for this amazing technology.

All the potential, all the new efficiencies, all the extra profit is still there waiting in Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

[Tito Shivan]

Originally posted by Gwarsbane:

We really wish they would stop telling people to post here when their "ideas" will never happen. It gives them false hope, and some people get a big ego thinking that Valve agrees with them so everyone else is wrong.

Never say never. Some thought Steam would never implement BTC the first time when people came to the forums suggesting it. Maybe some day it can come back.

Support does this because as a department they really have no say in other policies. Them pointing people to the community is the right venue to follow. Having support actually provide (or block) the feedback would also give some fake authority to the action.

In a way is how some people have assumed that us Community Mods forwarding information gives it 'priority' somehow when said priorities have other accounting factors.

[effgee]

Originally posted by Sadpan:

+1, if transaction fees aren't outrageous.

Bitcoin was never meant to have high transaction fees, or long waits for transaction times.
The high fees and the excuses for it, was intended to halt adoption of cryptocurrency, and it worked.

Steam gave up on Bitcoin because it became unreliable (and expensive) for users and vendors..

Bitcoin Cash has less than a penny transaction fees, and irreversible payments. Meaning once you send your payment, the vendor can be assured it will arrive. (Of course they (Steam) can always refund you by sending the payment back, with less than a penny transaction fees true commerce is facilitated.

Low fees, reliable transactions, no middlemen. This is Bitcoin (Cash).

[Sadpan]

Originally posted by effgee:

Originally posted by Sadpan:

+1, if transaction fees aren't outrageous.

Bitcoin was never meant to have high transaction fees, or long waits for transaction times.
The high fees and the excuses for it, was intended to halt adoption of cryptocurrency, and it worked.

Steam gave up on Bitcoin because it became unreliable (and expensive) for users and vendors..

Bitcoin Cash has less than a penny transaction fees, and irreversible payments. Meaning once you send your payment, the vendor can be assured it will arrive. (Of course they (Steam) can always refund you by sending the payment back, with less than a penny transaction fees true commerce is facilitated.

Low fees, reliable transactions, no middlemen. This is Bitcoin (Cash).

Thank you for the clarification!

[henrik.weide]

I agree that Bitcoin Cash (BCH) should be tried out as suggested. I was really dissapointed back then when Bitcoin (BTC) was removed from Steam, but I was not surprised.

BCH does not have the problems that BTC had and still has like high fees and slow confirmations due to congestion caused by an artificially low capacity limit (max. blocksize).

BCH transaction fees are perpetually sub-cent, since the max. block capacity will always be higher than demand.

[🞥Polish Healthcare🞥 [LNX]]

This is a very good idea and Bitcoin Cash just works. I promise to spend more on topping up my account after I have this option.

[gummirumpa]

I'd buy more games if possible to pay with Bitcoin Cash. Sometimes I buy Steam gift cards for Bitcoin Cash but it would be much easier to buy directly from Steam and I could buy any amount rather than just the gift card denominations.

[HostFat]

They can just use bitpay.com again, as they were doing before.

Bitpay now supports even other coins:
- Bitcoin Cash
- Ethereum
- XRP (Ripple)
- USD tokens (USDC, BUSD, PAX, GUSD)

I guess that it will also support Libra (facebook currency)

[redcoat_]

Originally posted by gummirumpa:

I'd buy more games if possible to pay with Bitcoin Cash. Sometimes I buy Steam gift cards for Bitcoin Cash but it would be much easier to buy directly from Steam and I could buy any amount rather than just the gift card denominations.

Same here, I’m looking at getting a Valve Index using my Bitcoin Cash (BCH) but the thought of buying £1000 worth of £10 gift cards from some third party just feels shady as hell.

I’d love to be able to just give Steam the cash directly.

[Pyc_Meowth]

Excellent idea. Bitcoin was always meant to be a mode of payment. The BTC version was removed from Steam for high fees and slow confirmations because the people running it no longer want it to be actual money. Bitcoin Cash solves the congestion problem and allows for fast, low-fee payments.

[LichoKT]

I'm certainly going to use Bitcoin Cash as a payment option. No more gift cards for BCH :)

[-⁧⁧SaaPoK]

Would be super cool to pay with BCH (bitcoin cash) or other coins ! I'll start buying from steam again instead of keys on 3rd parties websites. U don't need to include BTC as it's just "Digital Gold" only used for speculation and "HODL"ing.

[Rowan Skye]

The sad thing is that the title says "Bitcoin" but we're talking about BCH. I do support this, yeah, but the word "Bitcoin" is soured already enough, but hey, BitPay does let people pay now with lots of cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin Cash!

[GONZO]

I wish I could pay with Bitcoin Cash.

[VinWeez]

Another vote for re-enabling Bitcoin Cash payments. All the problems that plagued BTC payments are no longer an issue. IIRC, they even used BitPay in the past, who support BCH now. You could probably set it up again, only taking BCH and avoiding all the problems that came from BTC last time.