Microsoft Adds Bitcoin as a Currency Option on Excel

Bitcoin’s journey to the mainstream continues with Microsoft becoming the latest company to recognize it as a currency.

On Monday, a Reddit user ‘the powerx’ revealed that favorite computer spreadsheet software, Microsoft Excel now has the Bitcoin symbol (₿), with the leading cryptocurrency existing as one of the currency options in Excel.

The new development means that you can now prepare a spreadsheet of your BTC profits and losses using Excel. Also, one a Microsoft employee posted an image which suggested that Excel is providing prices on real-time for Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP).

New currency options in Microsoft excel pic.twitter.com/nqjUcKGqzL

— Dennis Parker⚡️ (@Xentagz) May 27, 2019

Microsoft’s Blockchain and Crypto Projects

While the latest move may seem as if the company is adopting cryptocurrencies or blockchain technology for the first time, the internet company has already made inroads with regards to the emerging industry.

For example, Stratis, an independent software vendor by Microsoft, is a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) project. The project aims to ensure that blockchain development becomes easier for businesses and is backed by institutional investment firm Bakkt.

Additionally, Microsoft had launched a development kit for Ethereum built on the company’s Azure cloud service. More recently, the company announced that it is building a decentralized identity solution called ION on the Bitcoin blockchain while it is also working on another identity solution with Louis Vuitton owner, LVMH.

Although the crypto community is not to keen on Microsoft as the company is usually slow in adopting technologies, the latest round of efforts seems to be a great move. Maybe this time, the company will get it right and lead the pack when it comes to deploying blockchain-based solutions.