The makers of Fortnite online video game, Fortnite has recently launched a Merchandise Store for which it has decided to accept the cryptocurrency along with other conventional methods of payments. Surprisingly, the company has listed Monero cryptocurrency as an acceptable method of payment, ditching the popular Bitcoin over its privacy concern.
The Merchandise Store, which is called Retail Row, allows the millions of fans of the game to purchase the various things related to the Fortnite and its various seasons. The store has listed all major credit cards, Google pay, PayPal, and Monero cryptocurrency as acceptable methods for payment. All the payments made by the cryptocurrency will be processed by GloBee service, which allows the retailers to accept various cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XMR, etc.
The decision of the company to accept Monero as a preferred crypto method has got many tongues wagging, with the majority expressing their surprise over the decision. Some took to the social media to convey their opinion and posted concerns regarding the decision. In response to the various queries posted on social media, the lead maintainer of Monero, Riccardo Spagni revealed that in order to pay with XMR, the users need to go through the regular payment checkout. When asked what could be the possible reason behind Retail Row’s decision of not accepting Bitcoin, the Spagni opined that the lack of privacy in the case of Bitcoin’s could have been the possible reason behind the decision. Epic Games appears to be interested in the scaling layer-two solution because of the enhanced privacy associated with it.
Despite this development, it is important to note that the Lightning Network of Bitcoin has grown tremendously in the last year. As per FX Signals, in November 2018, the network touched the capacity of 180 BTC which lately reached above 500 BTC by the end of the year.
For many, it appears a bit strange to accept the credit cards and not the Bitcoin owing to privacy reason. Spagni in a tweet noted that the concern of the Fortnite is to provide users the options which preserve their privacy and that the Fortnite is not chasing the most tempered-proof option for payment.
In the latest round of funding, Epic Games has been valued over $15 billion. The reason behind the heightened privacy concern is due to many factors. For one, the Cryptoblock covered earlier that the hackers have hidden malware in the popular games for stealing the users’ Bitcoin. In order to spread the malware, the users were lured with the promise of freebies like wallhacks, free passes to the season, aimbots, etc. According to a report on Holiday 2018 Consumer, many of the teenagers in the United States revealed that they would like to have cryptocurrencies and Fortnite’s game currency called V-Bucks as a free gift. So, the concern for users’ privacy is something that Fortnite has on priority than others.
As far as XMR is concerned, it is quite a controversial cryptocurrency and sprung into prominence when the AlphaBay, now a defunct online darknet market, started accepting it as a method of payment. XMR scores high on the privacy and thanks to its easy mining process; reports now suggest that cybercriminals are using mining malware to mine the XMR.
