French tobacconists will be able to sell, from January 1st, 2019, coupons convertible into bitcoins, a virtual currency. The Banque de France, which has not validated this agreement between the tobacco shops and the KeplerK platform, warns users about the highly "speculative" nature of crypto-assets.
The tobacco shops will sell, from January 1, 2019 coupons convertible into bitcoin or ethereum, another virtual currency without the Bank of France had to provide their authorization, announces the Confederation of tobacconists.
The Bimedia company, which supplies cash desks to tobacconists, in particular to sell dematerialized products (payment cards, phone credit refills ...), has signed an agreement with the KeplerK platform that offers cryptocurrencies, indicated the confederation to AFP.
At the end of this agreement, the tobacconists will, "as of January 1, market coupons of 50, 100 or 250 € convertible on the KeplerK site, bitcoins or ethereum," said a spokesman.This new service , presented last month at the national tobacconists, has not been the subject of any agreement with the Bank of France, said the confederation, along the lines of the denial issued earlier by the institution.
"Contrary to what was said this morning by some radio stations, without prior verification, no agreement has been signed to allow the sale of bitcoin in tobacco shops , " thus assured the Bank of France Wednesday. "No agreement is also discussed or envisaged on the subject," added the institution, recalling having repeatedly alerted users on the highly "speculative" nature of crypto-active.
Warning of the Banque de France
Radio Europe 1 had assured Wednesday morning that an agreement had been signed between the Federation of tobacconists and the Bank of France to authorize the sale of this virtual currency from 1 January 2019.
The governor of the Banque de France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, has warned several times since a year on the speculative nature of bitcoin, denying that it is a currency or even a cryptocurrency.
"Its value and its high volatility do not correspond to any economic underpinning and are not the responsibility of anyone," he said, adding that those who invest in bitcoin do so "at their own risk . "
The price of bitcoin, the first and main decentralized cryptocurrency, has steadily declined in recent months, reaching 4 408 dollars Wednesday, far from the $ 11 000 reached a year ago.