valve has announced that they will no longer support Bitcoin as a payment method on Steam due to Bitcoin's volatile nature and the high fees it incurs.
According to steam, the volatility of Bitcoin has been 'extreme' in the last few month. The cryptocurrency has seen so many highs and lows that it has affected its own users.
"When checking out on Steam, a customer will transfer x amount of Bitcoin for the cost of the game, plus y amount of Bitcoin to cover the transaction fee charged by the Bitcoin network. The value of Bitcoin is only guaranteed for a certain period of time so if the transaction doesn’t complete within that window of time, then the amount of Bitcoin needed to cover the transaction can change. The amount it can change has been increasing recently to a point where it can be significantly different."
Steam's resolutions to this, refunding the payment or asking for a transfer of additional funds, incurs network transaction fee which comes in addition to the base transaction fee. When Steam first launched Bitcoin support, the transaction fee was $0.20 and now, the fee has come close to $20.
Valve has no control over Bitcoin fees and laments over the 'unreasonably high costs for purchasing games when paying with Bitcoin.'
Valve 'may' re-evaluate this decision further on down the road, but for now, they will resolve any pending transactions that this announcement has affected, as well as anyone who has been impacted by existing underpayments or transaction fees.
