A coffee, a bitcoin and the addition



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How to regain both the coat of arms of bitcoin, seriously dehorned, and talk about tobacco shops in the polishing of high-tech polish? In announcing last week that a number of them were going to sell, as of 1st In January, convertible coupons in bitcoin or ethereum, the two main cryptocurrencies that are traded online in specialized marketplaces, the confederation of tobacconists paid a cheap price for com and the company Keplerk with .

Read alsoBitcoin, a global monetary mystery

A buzz succeeded in view of the number of articles and covers on the mode "Hello, a pack of blondes, a keno and a bitcoin please" but of which we can doubt that it serves the interests of a long-term profession in search of all-round diversification of its sources of income. While the value of these virtual currencies continues to plummet and they have, so far, little evidence that they could acquire a use value other than for purposes especially speculative, the only merit of this media imbroglio has finally been to recall the dangers inherent to investments in cryptocurrencies.

Convertible coupons

It is Europe 1, through its editorialist Michael Darmon, who sells the wick November 21 speaking of exclusivity. He tells us that the Bimedia company, which supplies cash terminals to around 4,000 tobacconists, allowing them to sell dematerialized products (payment cards, telephone credit refills, etc.) has signed an agreement with the Keplerk platform. . This "cryoprivate" broker who says on his homepage that"Buying bitcoin and ethereum at your tobacconist has never been easier," hears to enable those in the Bimedia network to expand their activities and "Market coupons of 50, 100 or 250 euros convertible on the site Keplerk, bitcoins or ethereum" as a spokesman for the confederation said. To do what ? Regardless, the important thing is to play on the democratization of bitcoin whose sale would become a new local service.

Read alsoBitcoin, a currency that turns to coal

Europe 1 goes a step further by saying that the confederation of tobacconists has obtained the agreement of the Bank of France, which both parties hasten to deny. "Contrary to what was claimed by some radio stations, without prior verification, no agreement has been signed to allow the sale of bitcoin in tobacco shops", very quickly clarified the BDF. Cryptocurrencies have no value or legal status recognized, she would be hard pressed to prohibit, explains in essence a representative of the institution to the media who question him, while recalling all the harm that the Bank of France thinks of crypto vogue by emphasizing its character "Highly speculative". A fashion that, in the words of the economist Nouriel Roubini, does not cease to warn about the danger of a new financial crash would have turned "bloodbath".

A societal evolution to accompany

As for the tobacconists, who will only be intermediaries responsible for turning their customers over to Keplerk, it is also confirmed that this new service, presented last month at the national salon of the profession, has not been the subject of any agreement with the regulator of the rue Cambon. "We will enter a process a little more industrialized", says BFM TV Sylvain Heubert, the general director of the confederation, apparently delighted to badociate his profession to a universe of arch-insiders yet fallen from very high since the time, end of 2017, when the bitcoin price did not blaze very far from 20,000 euros (it is worth less than 4,000 today). "It fits in the logic of what could be done with the Account-Nickel, he continues, referring to this "Fintech" (resale since estimates around 200 million euros to BNP Paribas) using the network of tobacconists to sell his solution by rewarding them. Four years ago, when it was launched, nobody expected the tobacconists to be bankers, he goes on to say that the all-relative rise of cryptocurrencies is "A societal evolution that we wish to accompany".

According to details of the partnership revealed by the press, Kerplerk – not to be confused with the well-known broker Kepler Chevereux – will charge a commission of 7% on the purchase of coupons, part of which is ultimately modest (1.25 % according to Le Figaro) will be donated to the tobacconists. Bitcoin may well continue to plummet, this does not prevent its intermediaries from taking advantage of it, as on any financial market.

Sounding the end of the recess, the French supervisory authorities have given a layer Monday cautioning users who would be tempted to put a ticket on a bitcoin coupon at their tobacconist. At risk for the retailer to lose his dissatisfied customers. In a joint statement, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the Banque de France and the French Prudential Supervisory and Resolution Authority (ACPR) recalled "The risks badociated with an investment in these speculative badets, which are unsuitable for unsophisticated retail investor profiles". They also repeated "That the purchase / sale and the investment in bitcoins were carried out to date outside any regulated market". We are waiting to see how the confederation of tobacconists will stage the arrival of its first bitcoin terminals during the New Year season. In the meantime, we wish them the lessons to be rebadembled.

Christophe Alix

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