Microsoft is now accepting bitcoin

SEATTLE, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Microsoft is now accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for their digital goods and services, including games and apps for Windows, Windows phone and Xbox.

The digital currency saw a brief spike of popularity in early 2014 and is accepted by select online retailers.

"The use of digital currencies such as bitcoin, while not yet mainstream, is growing beyond the early enthusiasts," said Eric Lockard, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Universal Store at Microsoft. "We expect this growth to continue and allowing people to use bitcoin to purchase our products and services now allows us to be a front edge of this market."

The currency can be used for the payment of Xbox Live services, the online multi-player video game platform.

The deal with Microsoft is "the best endorsement for bitcoin to date... The only company bigger than Microsoft is Apple and Apple tends to move slowly," said BitPay CEO Tony Gallippi.

Bitcoin is rarely used as it is difficult to regulate, unstable and isn't accepted by many retailers.