A French retailer by the name Monoprix may begin to accept bitcoin payments as soon as this year, a number of reports indicate.
The information comes from Patrick Oualid, the company’s e-commerce director, in an interview published Tuesday on French outlet JDN.
“Monoprix has always been a pioneer and sought to bring to its customers what we do not necessarily see elsewhere,” he said.
That pioneering will place Monoprix as the first major retail outlet in the country to accept digital currency payments, despite the fact that Oualid says bitcoin is mostly viewed as an outlaw’s currency in France.
The idea is for the company to be ready for explosive use of bitcoin. As opposed to scrambling to get a system together, Oualid feels the company will be ready to go before mainstream adoption.
Monoprix, founded in 1938, has a presence of about 85 percent in French towns (with more than 300 stores), so we’re looking at a pretty big company here.
The objective isn’t to attract enthusiasts into their stores, however. It’s mostly about accepting that digital currency is destined to be part of the future.
“If bitcoin does not bring us cold hard sales and cash, it does not matter,” said Oualid. [source: CoinDesk]
