25,000 stores and 30 brands in France will accept payment in bitcoins

25,000 stores and 30 brands in France, including Boulanger, Foot Locker, Decathlon, Conforama, Maison du Monde, Norauto and Sephora, will accept Bitcoin payments from next year.

Implementation will be carried out by East2Play startup, which developed the EasyWallet application in collaboration with Global POS. The operational activities of the stores will not change, because the received bitcoins will be automatically converted into euros.

“At first, it will be possible to pay for a purchase only with bitcoin, but in the future we plan to expand the toolkit,” said Steéphane Djiane, CEO and founder of Global POS.

Information on the implementation of such a payment service was first announced on the sidelines of the Paris Retail Week. A number of partner companies have already confirmed their participation in this initiative.

“The inability to use cryptocurrencies is a serious problem for retailers. We recognize public expectations, ”said Mustaches brand co-founder Gregory Hervein. According to the information portal Le Figaro, currently 3-6% of French people own cryptocurrencies.

It is assumed that the implementation of this initiative was made possible thanks to the law adopted last year by the French authorities, which established a number of rules for the cryptocurrency industry.

However, the country’s authorities are wary of initiatives that could undermine monetary sovereignty. Recently, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Mayor said that he intends to hinder the development of stable Libra in the EU.