Microsoft Office 365 to include Bitcoin currency support

Jan 09, 2017 (LBO) – Microsoft has included controversial Bitcoin currency support for Excel spreadsheet package for their 2017 rollout plan for Office 365, among other features. Office 365 Roadmap which lists updates that are currently planned for applicable subscribers has categorized Bitcoin for Excel as a feature in development and testing.





This year, Excel will be able to recognize, format, calculate, and analyze numbers expressed in Bitcoin currency, one of the most popular crypto currencies in the world. 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.



Bitcoin is an online peer-to-peer currency that uses principles of cryptography to validate transactions between users. The issuing of bitcoins and managing transactions is carried out collectively by the network which is an open-source application.



Banks generally do not offer services for cryptocurrencies and many governments have taken a cautious approach toward them, fearing their lack of central control. In the recent past, Bitcoin has been involved in a range of financial crimes, including theft, price manipulation, sale of illicit goods, money laundering and even Ponzi schemes.







Those who use Bitcoin as a means for crime often operate on the "dark Web," using Tor and other techniques to cover their tracks though new technologies have emerged to ‘doxing’ them.

Doxing may be carried out for various reasons, including aiding law enforcement, business analysis and criminal justice processes.

The decentralization of money offered by virtual currencies like bitcoin however has its theoretical roots in the Austrian school of economics, especially with Friedrich von Hayek. In his book Denationalisation of Money, he advocates a complete free market in the production, distribution and management of money to end the monopoly of central banks.