Another fantastic development in the world of crypto regulation as thousands of tobacco retailers in France will begin to sell Bitcoin coupons from the 1st of January 2019. Known as “Tabacs” many French corner stores will now offer crypto.

Despite 2018 going down in history as the year that BTC plummeted from almost $20 000 to $4060 the good news is that it’s nearly 2019 and with the new year comes new developments for the crypto market with thousands of point of sales set to offer Bitcoin throughout France.

This comes under the authority of the French Central Bank, the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution – ACPR) which is the institution in charge of monitoring all transactions carried out by banks and insurance companies in the European nation.

The ACPR recently officially announced the authorization of the Federation of tobacco shops to being selling bitcoin at the start of 2019.

Starting out, between 3000 and 4000 shops will be equipped with the software required to process direct purchases of “coupons” of bitcoins.

The amounts in which Bitcoin can be purchased will be to the following values, 50, 100 or 250 euros.

Antenna 1, a French radio station reports that a recent agreement was signed by the company Bimedia, who provides terminals for collection at tobacco shops, allowing the sales of “dematerialized” products and KeplerK platform which offers digital currencies.

Thanks to this partnership agreement, tobacconists will be able to market coupons of 50, 100 or 250 euros which will be convertible on the KeplerK website to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital currencies.

The Federation tobacconists explained:

Specifically, people wanting to acquire bitcoins can do it in these tobacco shops. Buyers will receive a ticket that they can turn into bitcoins on the website KeplerK.



KeplerK’s website claims to have over 27 000 operators as well as the highest number of point of sales in the world.

First Line Of Bitcoin Trade = Tobacconists:

President of the Confederation Of Tobacco Shops, Phillipe Coy told Europe 1 that the authorization of tobacco shop owners is a way of modernizing their profession. He added:

“It brings us closer to modern times of consumption, and use.”

More than 25 000 points of sales in the French territory make up The Confederation Of Tobacco Shops. These retailers are also open 13 hours per day and 7 days per week. An excerpt from their website reads:

“This unparalleled network and this high availability make tobacconists the first network of local shops in France.”

While this is great news for widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies, do you think nations who are cracking down on tobacco would even consider such a bold move? Do you think it’s a good idea to allow tobacconists to retail crypto? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

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