Mining Cryptocurrencies is Prohibited on Microsoft’s Online Services

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Last Updated on December 15, 2022 by Bitfinsider

Microsoft, the leading giant in cloud computing industry, has imposed new limitations on activities like cryptocurrency mining. Users must now obtain a written pre-approval from Microsoft in order to use Microsoft Azure to mine cryptocurrencies. Increasing the stability of its cloud services is the goal of the new limits.

Microsoft amended its ‘Acceptable Use Policy’ on December 1 emphasizing that “mine cryptocurrency is prohibited without prior Microsoft approval.” Therefore, in order to use any Microsoft Online Services for bitcoin mining, users must first obtain Microsoft’s clearance.

Microsoft reportedly secretly prohibited cryptocurrency mining from its online services in order to safeguard its clouds and clients, according to a claim by British technology news outlet known as The Register. The decision was made when the crypto market was in decline following the FTX fiasco.

“We made this change to further protect our customers and mitigate the risk of disrupting or impairing services in the Microsoft Cloud,” Microsoft stated.

The business put limitations on cryptocurrency mimicking Microsoft Online Services, but it also made a caveat that it would consider granting license for mining cryptocurrencies for research and testing.

A crucial element of the company’s software-as-a-service strategy is Microsoft Online Services. The users of the online services can mine cryptocurrencies using the Microsoft Azure cloud computing network. Before discreetly ending the Azure Blockchain service in September of last year, Microsoft had previously experimented with delivering Ethereum Blockchain as a Service on Azure sometime in 2015.

Microsoft has joined other major cloud computing companies in outlawing bitcoin mining by adopting the new limitations. Without Google’s previous written consent, mining cryptocurrencies is forbidden on Google. Additionally, consumers of Digital Ocean must obtain formal authorization before mining.

Oracle and other service providers have outright forbidden cryptocurrency mining on their cloud.


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