Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) understands the true value and popularity of peer-to-peer digital currency bitcoin. This is why the tech titan announced Monday that it will add bitcoin support to Excel for both desktop and mobile. Microsoft noted that this is part of a much bigger update planned for later this year. This comes as bitcoin was the hottest currency in 2016 as it surged above $1,000.
Microsoft Corporation Supporting Bitcoin in 2017
Microsoft Excel is the most widely used spreadsheet application in the world today. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is the most popular cryptocurrency in the world today. So why wouldn’t they make a glorious partnership moving in 2017?
Martin Butler, account executive of globals at Microsoft, confirmed the native support for bitcoin on Excel. Writing in a post on LinkedIn, Butler noted that Microsoft was working to make bitcoin support available in all versions of the Excel app in 2017. This would apply not just to the desktop program, but to all of the mobile app versions on iOS, Android and Windows 10.
“In 2017, Excel will be able to recognize, format, calculate and analyze numbers expressed in Bitcoin currency,” Butler wrote. “The new feature will be available for Excel running under Windows 10, Android, Mac OS and iOS, and will include Excel Mobile versions as well.”
Ostensibly, 2017 will be a grand year for bitcoin and its relationship with Microsoft.
Butler also shed the light on a couple of other developments. Some of them include real-time transcription and translation of Skype meeting broadcasts, which will be for business; conditional access policies for locations and apps, a method aimed to improve collaboration on Office 365; new data gathering and shaping capabilities for Excel; and OneNote improvements for classroom and collaboration.
Of course, Microsoft is not a neophyte when it comes to bitcoin and blockchain technology. Since 2014, the tech giant has accepted bitcoin payments. Also, the Azure has consisted of Blockchain as a Service providing blockchain-based applications.
With tax season making its triumphant return and the bitcoin community remaining confounded about all of the taxes and various regulations, this is a perfect opportunity for Microsoft to make the move.
Microsoft Corporation’s Commitment to Cryptocurrency
This isn’t Microsoft’s first foray into the world of virtual currency. Microsoft, according to Softpedia, has pledged a commitment to bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general.
It was in April that Microsoft first revealed that it would offer bitcoin format support to Excel. Indeed, bitcoin support on Excel did take longer than initially anticipated, but for many bitcoiners the wait was worth it.
Here is a document that Microsoft released at the time:
“Now use Excel to track, calculate and analyze Bitcoin data using native Bitcoin number formatting options. Feature is being rolled out to Excel 2016 for Windows, Excel Online, Excel Mobile for Windows, and Excel Mobile for Android.”
Bitcoin may have faded into obscurity after collapsing from its all-time high of $1,300, and recently a new type of scam has emerged in the industry in the form of bitcoin bots like Bitcoin Trader. However, the digital currency has witnessed a resurgence and has soared back to the mountaintop. This is why many within the bitcoin ecosystem believe that 2017 may be the year for the cryptocurrency.
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