[2018-11-22] French Tobacco Shops Authorized to Sell Bitcoin Starting January 20

[Jgilpulg]

At first, between 3,000 and 4,000 shops will be equipped with software to process direct purchases of “coupons” of bitcoins. The amounts of Bitcoin that can be bought will be of the following values: 50, 100, or 250 euros.

https://bitcoinist.com/french-tobacco-shops-authorized-to-sell-bitcoin-starting-january-2019/

[1Referee]

Reading a different article covering the same subject, but with more information, it states that the fees per transaction are 7% which is pretty steep. I get it that the availability of easy to access fiat entry points is the first step towards mainstream adoption, but will people really bite here? BATM's in most cases are offering way lower fees.

I assume that from the 7% in fees around 2-3% goes straight to the tobacco retailers, so it's not really a matter of greed, but more so an overpriced product.

[LeGaulois]

Tobacco shops in France are selling all kind of vouchers, sometimes they don't even remember everything they have for sale lol.
It creates a huge network, we can even open a bank account in some tobacco shops   And so deposit or withdraw money. There is already a service similar to his one, but it still shows the potential of a network such as the tobacco shops. But not going to buy with a 7% fee, no thanks, just the cigarettes please.

The article posted is also mentioning this:

The French central bank issued a statement Wednesday, denying some reports that it has signed no agreement with tobacconists to allow the sale of bitcoin. It further warned that cryptocurrencies are “purely speculative and are not currencies” and that those who wish to invest in bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency “do it entirely at their own risk.”

[stompix]

Not only are the fees pretty steep but what is with this voucher thing?

will be offering bitcoin vouchers in denominations of 50, 100 or 250 euros (around $57, $114 or $285) from Jan. 1, 2019.

Local crypto startup Keplerk is said to have signed a deal with a cash register software provider to facilitate the scheme. Keplerk will allow customers to convert their vouchers into bitcoin and store it in wallets on its platform.

How does it work, you buy a coupon worth 250 euros, plus the extra 17.5 euros, then you have to go online and redeem the voucher in your Keplerk (nice French name) account and from there transfer the bitcoins, if you wish, in your wallet?

If so, does it matter when you redeem the voucher? You might get 0.05 or 0.03 BTC depending on the market fluctuation and its like you're already trading.