Bitcoin Now Available for Purchase in Tobacco Shops Across France

Just two months ago, KeplerK, a French fintech group looking to make cryptocurrency purchases simple, announced that the French federation of tobacco vendors will be diversifying their offerings by allowing customers to purchase cryptocurrency in-store. Billing itself as the easiest way to purchase Bitcoin in Europe, KeplerK now joins the growing list of companies looking to simplify the task of acquiring cryptocurrency while making it more approachable to anybody with interest in digital currencies.

Come And Get It

Currently, Bitcoin is available for purchase in 23 tobacco stores nationwide, with six of these stores available in and around Paris. KeplerK looks to expand this service to as many as 6,500 stores by February and hopes to cover much of the 24,000 licensed tobacco vendors by the year’s end. [bctt tweet=”Bitcoin now available for purchase in 23 Tobacco Stores in France — 6500 by end of February. Is this what crypto needs?” username=”beincrypto”] To accomplish this, KeplerK partnered with point of sale service provider Bimedia to allow tobacco vendors to sell small denominations of Bitcoin. Currently, Bitcoin can be purchased in €50, €100, and €250 denominations, with the exact amount of BTC purchased being based on the rate set by KeplerK. To make the process as simple as possible, Bitcoin purchases are supplied as a unique code on a printed receipt that can be redeemed via the KeplerK wallet to obtain the Bitcoins. To create a KeplerK wallet, customers will be required to complete full KYC checks and provide their e-mail address and phone number.

📢 KeplerK a le plaisir vous présenter la liste des premiers buralistes proposant le ticket Bitcoin Keplerk ! #keplerk #bitcoin #tabac #ticketbitcoin pic.twitter.com/SdOaV8yYKp

— Keplerk France (@KeplerkFrance) January 9, 2019

Currently, Bitcoin purchases are subject to a 7% mark-up over market rates, out of which 1.25 percent goes to the tobacco shop owners. These rates are roughly in line with the premiums charged by other over-the-counter vendors.

Keeping Up With The Times

According to Adil Zakhar, co-founder of KeplerK, the scheme gives people who might find it too complicated to purchase Bitcoin a method of easy access, while avoiding the trust issues that come with purchasing cryptocurrency online. Faced with dwindling sales, French tobacco vendors have begun increasing the range of services offered, ranging from prepaid gift cards, parcel drop-off and collection points, mobile credit and now cryptocurrency sales. As of yet, it remains unclear whether KeplerK will also allow cryptocurrency holders to make purchases in-store with their newly obtained cryptocurrency, or whether this will remain a one-way situation at least for the time being. Do you think that selling cryptocurrency in tobacco stores will help improve Bitcoin adoption? Do you imagine that larger chains and superstores will begin following suit in future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

---