French tobacco retailers are going to sell bitcoin to the public from January 1st, 2019.
Tobacco retailers will be offering bitcoin vouchers in denominations of 50, 100 or 250 euros (around $57, $114 or $285). Local crypto startup Keplerk will allow customers to convert their vouchers into bitcoin and store it in wallets on its platform.
Keplerk has been working on the project to sell bitcoins to retail investors for a year and a half.
“Tobacco shop owners are the best channel as they are trusted by customers and they are used to sell vouchers such as credit for mobile phones,” said Adil Zakhar, Keplerk’s director for strategy and development.
France’s 24,000 licensed tobacco shops have already diversified to sell lottery tickets, credits for cellphone operators or video and music streaming services.