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Groupe Casino, one of the largest retail stores in Europe with over 11,000 stores, has rolled out a Euro stablecoin through Tezos (XTZ).
The company said the payment will be used for both future payments and loyalty schemes. Groupe Casino, which has a 120-year old history, is headquartered in France.
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According to the announcement, the Euro pegged stablecoin was developed using the Tezos protocol and in collaboration with crypto exchange Coinhouse.
The company also collaborated with financial services group Societe Generale, R&D firm Nomadic Labs, stablecoin infrastructure provider Sceme, as well as accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
The newly launched stablecoin is called Lugh and will use the ticker symbol EURL. The announcement also mentioned that the initial coin offering (ICO) will offer 500,000 coins firstly on Coinbase during the test phase before making them available on other platforms after the test period is complete.
Offering more payment options
Groupe Casino is the French version of Walmart. The company has over 220,000 employees across is thousands of stores located worldwide. In 2017, Groupe Casino reported revenue of €37.822 billion.
Groupe operates several brands, including Casino Restauration, Le Petit Casino, Spar, Vival, Leader Price, Franprix, Monoprix, Casino Supermarkets, and Géant Casino (hypermarkets).
One unique feature of the project is the fact that the plan is to make it not only a simple trading tool like other projects. The company plans to expand its use and offer a wider payment option for customers.
“Within 12 to 24 months Lugh will become a means of payment and loyalty in stores,” Groupe stated.
B2C players will be involved in future
The project will be replacing the present loyalty points, and holders of the stablecoin can spend them in all brands selected to join the consortium.
The announcement further stated that the Lugh project is managed by Groupe Casino at the moment. But in the future, other B2C players will join the train for a more expansive product offering.
It also reveals that the stablecoin’s reserve, which is stored by Société Générale, will be audited monthly.