A Packet of Smokes and Some Bitcoin, S’il Vous Plait
In France, tabacs, as tobacco outlets are commonly known, sell more than just nicotine. They also offer national lottery tickets, resell mobile recharge vouchers, act as utility bill payment points, and have a selection of newspapers and magazines up for grabs. Thus, in customer’s minds, it’s a one-stop-shop for miscellaneous on-the-go transactions.

The service, which went live on Feb. 11 2019, is available at all tabacs equipped with Devlyx cash registers – a brand particularly popular with tobacconists and newsagents. Thanks to this agreement, consumers can now turn cryptocurrency investors as easily as lighting a cigarette.

Shoppers can purchase vouchers to the value of €20 ($23), €50 ($57), or €200 ($226), and convert them for the crypto of their choice on the Digycode website, where they’ll be added to the user’s wallet. On the menu is bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), ripple (XRP), and DASH.

Better Benefits, Higher Fees?
According to Villegas, the hefty 8 percent service fee will be offset by the value-added benefits that differentiates this service offering from online purchasing platforms, including privacy concerns with sharing bank details online, scam concerns on unrecognized platforms, and “devirtualization” of digital currency by bringing it into the real world.

The company is no stranger to the world of virtual currency. Digital Service has been active in the country’s crypto space since 2014. In 2016, it launched bitcoin purchasing platform Zebitcoin and extended its service offering in 2018 with the launch of Zebitex, the first euro-crypto exchange in France.

Regulators’ Stance
In November 2018, overeager reporting by French radio station Europe1 stated that the Federation of Tobacconists had obtained authorization to act as cryptocurrency point of sales. Both the Federation and the Banque de France, the country’s central Bank, were quick to clarify that no such agreement had been reached.

Instead, what was being referred to was a commercial agreement between POS-terminal supplier Bimedia and bitcoin platform Keplerk. The partnership would enable tabacs to provide coupon sales for the Keplerk platform, a service that came into effect in January 2019.

The French have been able to start the new year with an interesting new addition to their daily tabac shopping options
French regulators continue to maintain the position that cryptocurrencies, as speculative assets, should not be deemed currency, and has issued several warnings to lay investors that partaking in such investments are done at their own risk. Since cryptocurrency sales are legal tender, authorities have no bearing on such transactions.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: news.bitcoin.com