Microsoft is now allowing customers to buy apps, games and videos from its online stores via bitcoin. Customers can use bitcoin to load money into a Microsoft wallet or create digital gift cards; direct payments with bitcoin are not supported. Microsoft is working with payment processor BitPay to enable bitcoin payments.

"For us, this is about giving people options and helping them do more on their devices and in the cloud," reports Eric Lockard, Corporate Vice President of Universal Store at Microsoft, on the Microsoft Fire Hose blog. "The use of digital currencies such as bitcoin, while not yet mainstream, is growing beyond the early enthusiasts. We expect this growth to continue and allowing people to use bitcoin to purchase our products and services now allows us to be at the front edge of that trend."

Users wishing to transfer bitcoins, first need to select the amount of money to add to their Microsoft account. BitPay calculates the equivalent amount in bitcoin and delivers that information, along with a BitPay bitcoin address and payment instructions. The customer then pays the displayed amount of bitcoin from his or her bitcoin wallet to complete the transaction.

"This exchange provides an option to keep up with the changing needs of customers who are using micropayments and other banking alternatives," says Lockard.

On the payment page of its website, Microsoft states:

• Most bitcoin transactions should process immediately. If it doesn't, please wait up to two hours for the transaction to complete before contacting support.
• Money added to your Microsoft account using bitcoin cannot be refunded, so make sure to review your transaction before paying with your digital wallet.
• You can only use bitcoin to add money to your Microsoft account and then purchase digital goods at select Microsoft online stores. You can’t use bitcoin to purchase Microsoft products and services directly at this time.

Support for adding money to a Microsoft account with bitcoin is currently limited to the United States. In addition, there is a cap on how much can be exchanged per day: $1,000 to a Microsoft account on any given day, and no more than $5,000 to additional Microsoft accounts that are registered in a customer's name or by that customer, Microsoft reports.