Online game provider steam has stopped accepting bills made with the bitcoin virtual forex.
In a assertion, development studio valve, which runs steam, stated "excessive expenses and volatility" had pushed it to prevent accepting them.
It said that charges to method bitcoin payments had "skyrocketed" in 2017, making the digital forex lots much less appealing as an choice.
It said it could re-examine bitcoin as a payment possibility in the future.
Losing loop
In its declaration, valve stated even though bitcoin had usually been volatile, the rapid adjustments in cost it had seen all through the past few months have been "intense".
Steam commenced accepting bills in bitcoins in april this yr.
At that time, each bitcoin became really worth about $450 (£335). Now, every coin is really worth approximately $14,800.
The moment-by using-moment shifts in price were a hassle, valve said, because of the narrow window clients had to complete a buy using bitcoins.
If a bitcoin-based totally transaction was extended, the price of the coins being transferred could alternate "significantly", it stated.
In those instances, clients needed to transfer greater bitcoins to make the payment, or get a reimbursement. And both choice could bring about the client paying greater change fees, currently about $20.
A few clients including bitcoins had even been caught out a second time as the price modified again.
"this 12 months, we've visible growing number of customers get into this state," valve stated.
Bitcoin continued to rise in cost this week and looks set to interrupt the $15,000 barrier quickly.
Valve's selection comes as crypto-cash mining market nicehash mentioned a "security breach" had supposed hackers had accessed its bitcoin pockets, which had contained approximately $60m in bitcoins.
