According to a story from The Register (1), the massive technology company Microsoft has prohibited cryptocurrency mining on its “Azure” cloud services. The Universal License Terms for Online Services that the company had issued at the beginning of December were modified by the company to include the new policy.
Customers of Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform will, beginning immediately, be required to obtain authorization from Microsoft before mining cryptocurrencies using the platform’s services.
The organization asserts that the approach will shield users from the hazards and pursuits associated with the sector. The following is how the new Microsoft policy is reportedly written, according to the report:
“The Acceptable Use Policy has been updated to clarify that mining bitcoin is not allowed without prior consent from Microsoft. Without the prior written agreement of Microsoft, neither the Customer nor anyone who accesses an Online Service through the Customer may use an Online Service to mine cryptocurrencies. Neither party may use an Online Service for any other purpose.”
Microsoft Too Has now Banned Mining Cryptocurrency In The Cloud
The corporation was not forthcoming about its new stance against cryptocurrency mining. Customers were informed through a revised use policy, as noted above, as well as the Summary of Changes page (2) and a paper distributed to the company’s partners.
Microsoft pushed the measure to “protect” its cloud ecosystem. The business asserts that cryptocurrency mining has the potential to “disrupt” or “impair” its Online Services. In addition, the organization believes that cryptocurrency users “may frequently be linked to cyber fraud and abuse attacks.”
This is a common argument that government authorities and regulators use when they want to discredit the embryonic industry as illegitimate and label its actions as illegal. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Digital Ocean, and OVH have also implemented policies that prevent users from using their cloud services to mine cryptocurrencies in some form.
Regarding the company’s policy, the following was declared by the company:
“We made this modification to ensure our clients’ safety further and reduce the likelihood that any services hosted in the Microsoft Cloud would be impaired or disrupted. For the sake of Testing and Research about security detections, permission to mine cryptocurrency may be considered.”
The Crypto Winter Has an Effect on Cloud Crypto Mining
In contrast to Microsoft, Google and several other tech firms have already prohibited cryptocurrency mining on their cloud platforms. The downward trend in digital assets may have been a factor in the company’s decision to amend its strategy, according to a hypothesis put out by The Register.
Since the middle of 2021, the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has decreased by more than 80 percent. The mining industry was impacted as a result of the downward trend.
Bitcoin miners have been forced to sell off a significant percentage of their BTC supply to keep their businesses running. According to the study’s findings, “Microsoft may be concerned that miners may not pay their cloud expenses,” as the report stated.
The article supposes that Azure, the cloud services the corporation offers, may be experiencing capacity issues. As a result, the corporation may be able to lower demand by severing ties with the cryptocurrency mining industry.
