Whereas most companies are quick to jump on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, Valve is not one of them. Valve's stance against NFTs and cryptocurrency is clear after Steam banned all games featuring blockchain technology. According to Valve's president and co-founder, Gabe Newell, the company isn't against the technology behind NFTs. Rather, Valve's issues lie with the lack of regulation, volatility, and how cryptocurrency attracts nefarious uses.
In a Rock Paper Shotgun interview, Newell noted how the bad in NFTs outweighs the positives, for now. Specifically, Newell mentioned how "the people in the space" tend to be involved in "criminal activity" and "sketchy behaviors." Newell also added that Valve's problem is "more about the actors", explaining that Valve does not want to do business with such individuals.
The gist of Newell's recent interview is that he thinks people in the NFT space are only in it to launder money and scam people.
As to why Steam doesn't accept cryptocurrency as payment anymore, Newell elaborated by saying that "volatility is a bad thing in a medium of exchange," before circling back to his initial statement about fraud. Newell revealed that half of all crypto transactions on Steam were fraudulent, which is a huge number "that's just out of control."