Visa/MasterCard issue - Bring Back Crypto Payments with Bitcoin Cash

[CyberPunk]

Hey everyone, remember when Steam let us pay with Bitcoin? It was awesome until the 2017 mess with skyrocketing fees and unreliable confirmations turned it into a headache for support. Steam had to drop it, and I get why.. no one wants that drama!

But crypto come a long way, and I’d love to see Steam give it another shot, especially with Bitcoin Cash (BCH). It’s basically Bitcoin but fixed: super low fees, fast and stable transactions, and now with CashTokens, which let devs create in-game tokens, NFTs, or assets right on the blockchain without the hassle. BCH also features CashFusion for optional privacy via mixing and reusable payment addresses (RPA), similar to stealth addresses, for seamless repeat transactions. Plus, tons of games have already jumped on BCH stuff like online casinos and platforms such as BC.Game, Bovada, CoinPoker, and Rocketpot all accept it for betting and play. Shows it’s reliable and growing in gaming.

If Steam’s still wary from the old days, start small: just let us top up the Steam wallet with crypto. That way, refunds stay in-wallet, easy peasy. On top of that, this could fix the recent crap with Visa and Mastercard forcing Steam to yank hundreds of adult games off the store. Those payment giants are pushing censorship rules about “brand damage,” making platforms like Steam and itch.io remove content just to keep card payments flowing. Crypto like BCH, Nano and XMR sidesteps all that no middlemen dictating what games can exist. Steam could keep more titles available, especially in regions hit by card restrictions or fees.

Steam also could add privacy-focused ones like Monero (XMR) or super-fast, fee-free Nano. The support team forwarded me to post here when I asked about it, so they’re not totally against crypto. Let’s see the interest: Who’d use crypto payments on Steam if they added it?

[Ettanin]

Any payment method that is dependent in its obtainability or exchangability to another payment method will make ideas such as this one obsolete because credit card companies will still be part of this dependency chain and will pressure the lower level of the dependency chain to cease and desist, be it Valve directly, any retail store or exchange hub, any other payment method that uses credit cards, both virtual and real.

The issue is not how Steam gets the money for the questionable content, but the fact that Steam gets money for the questionable content. Offering certain games on Steam alone is enough to enforce a cease and desist, no matter the payment method; Neither Visa nor Mastercard want to be held liable for the sale of (potentially) questionable content.

[datCookie]

Crypto is straight up a scam, which is why Valve stopped using it for the brief period it did.

People need to stop suggesting this, it benefits no one.

[CyberPunk]

Originally posted by datCookie:

Crypto is straight up a scam, which is why Valve stopped using it for the brief period it did.

People need to stop suggesting this, it benefits no one.

There are many Decentralized stable coins such as MUSD, DAI , dEuro each are tokens of different chains

[CyberPunk]

Originally posted by Ettanin:

Any payment method that is dependent in its obtainability or exchangability to another payment method will make ideas such as this one obsolete because credit card companies will still be part of this dependency chain and will pressure the lower level of the dependency chain to cease and desist, be it Valve directly, any retail store or exchange hub, any other payment method that uses credit cards, both virtual and real.

The issue is not how Steam gets the money for the questionable content, but the fact that Steam gets money for the questionable content. Offering certain games on Steam alone is enough to enforce a cease and desist, no matter the payment method; Neither Visa nor Mastercard want to be held liable for the sale of (potentially) questionable content.

Well, blockchains themselves are self-sovereign and can’t be pressured directly. If you think about it, payment processing is self-sovereign on-chain with THORChain handling the decentralized exchange part, and for converting to actual dollars, Bitpay can do everything A-Z without credit card dependency.

[datCookie]

Originally posted by CyberPunk:

Originally posted by datCookie:

Crypto is straight up a scam, which is why Valve stopped using it for the brief period it did.

People need to stop suggesting this, it benefits no one.

There are many Decentralized stable coins such as MUSD, DAI , dEuro each are tokens of different chains

And? People don't want or trust digital currency, because it is rife with scams and fraud.

And as Ettain said above: it doesn't solve this problem anyway.

[CyberPunk]

Originally posted by datCookie:

Originally posted by CyberPunk:

There are many Decentralized stable coins such as MUSD, DAI , dEuro each are tokens of different chains

And? People don't want or trust digital currency, because it is rife with scams and fraud.

And as Ettain said above: it doesn't solve this problem anyway.

Can you explain? I have replied to Ettain. Cryptocurrency can serve as an alternative payment solution for game developers when Visa and MasterCard are removed as payment options for their games, using cryptocurrency allows them to remain available and be purchased with crypto payments.

[Ettanin]

Originally posted by CyberPunk:

Originally posted by datCookie:

And? People don't want or trust digital currency, because it is rife with scams and fraud.

And as Ettain said above: it doesn't solve this problem anyway.

Can you explain? I have replied to Ettain. Cryptocurrency can serve as an alternative payment solution for game developers when Visa and MasterCard are removed as payment options for their games, using cryptocurrency allows them to remain available and be purchased with crypto payments.

Because you still need a credit card for international purchases to obtain the cryptocurrency or to exchange it back to real money. If this goes widespread, Visa/MC will ban exchange booths and any business using cryptocurrency instead.

Game dev employees want to be paid in USD or EUR or whichever national currency they use, because they can't pay for food and a warm home with whatever fake money you propose.

[BloodShed]

Crypto currency is too volatile.

It's one of the reasons Valve stopped supporting it.

[CyberPunk]

Originally posted by BloodShed:

Crypto currency is too volatile.

It's one of the reasons Valve stopped supporting it.

Stablecoins are always there in many chains including but not exclusive to BCH , TRX

[BloodShed]

Originally posted by CyberPunk:

Originally posted by BloodShed:

Crypto currency is too volatile.

It's one of the reasons Valve stopped supporting it.

Stablecoins are always there in many chains including but not exclusive to BCH , TRX

And that makes it less volatile how exactly?

[CyberPunk]

Originally posted by Ettanin:

Originally posted by CyberPunk:

Can you explain? I have replied to Ettain. Cryptocurrency can serve as an alternative payment solution for game developers when Visa and MasterCard are removed as payment options for their games, using cryptocurrency allows them to remain available and be purchased with crypto payments.

Because you still need a credit card for international purchases to obtain the cryptocurrency or to exchange it back to real money. If this goes widespread, Visa/MC will ban exchange booths and any business using cryptocurrency instead.

Game dev employees want to be paid in USD or EUR or whichever national currency they use, because they can't pay for food and a warm home with whatever fake money you propose.

Regarding scams Steam could limit crypto to wallet top-ups with required confirmations, minimizing fraud risks since funds stay in-wallet and refunds are easy.

And no, you don’t always need credit cards for crypto options like bank transfers, debit, P2P cash trades, ATMs, or earning directly exist. If widespread, Visa/MC might pressure exchanges, but crypto decentralized nature has resisted full bans so far many banks still allow it.
Devs/employees get fiat and Tools like BitPay auto-convert crypto to USD/EUR instantly upon receipt, so they pay bills in real currency while buyers use crypto.

[Ettanin]

Originally posted by CyberPunk:

And no, you don’t always need credit cards for crypto options like bank transfers, debit, P2P cash trades, ATMs, or earning directly exist. If widespread, Visa/MC might pressure exchanges, but crypto decentralized nature has resisted full bans so far many banks still allow it.

And that makes these systems strictly localized to a few large cities and noname banks which in turn means availability will be heavily diminished for Steam's potential customer base.

Come to think of noname banks, they too rely on payment processors which in turn rely on Visa and MasterCard for international connectivity.

You want international business, you cannot ditch credit card support.

[CyberPunk]

Originally posted by BloodShed:

Originally posted by CyberPunk:

Stablecoins are always there in many chains including but not exclusive to BCH , TRX

And that makes it less volatile how exactly?

USDC for example is literally pegged to the dollar with actual bonds and cash and the company is public and listed on the market. Other StableCoins use overcollateral by 150% or more it is even less voiltlae in purchasing power than a bank run

[neo_akira58]

Personally I was thinking can't you just get around those payment by having us buy the price of the game in the Wallet instead so that the transactions those companies sees is just people buying gift cards and then with those we buy the games and that way Visa/Mastercard lose all their power and credibility simply because they will have no way to see what we buy then you can relist all those games

[HikariLight]

When Steam accepted crypto, over HALF of all transactions with it turned out to be fraudulent.

Valve then dropped crypto and most likely won't ever bring it back.