Through its Crypcool platform, the French group Aucoffre offers its clients the opportunity to invest in cryptocurrencies and aims to be educational.
A French player who wants to make his mark on the crypto scene. The leader in gold sales Aucoffre has decided to diversify in recent months. At the end of November 2023, the group launched its subsidiary Crypcool, to offer its customers the opportunity to invest in cryptocurrencies. Three of them are notably offered: bitcoin, ether, and veraOne, a token specific to the company, backed by the price of physical gold.
“We try to promote the seriousness of this new sector,” explains Cécile de Larrard, digital marketing manager of Crypcool to BFM Crypto. “We do not give investment advice, we really support all our clients from A to Z in understanding the crypto ecosystem,” she continues.
12% of French people (aged 18 and over, editor’s note) would own cryptocurrencies at the start of 2024, according to a study by Adan (Association for the Development of Digital Assets), carried out in partnership with KPMG and the Ipsos polling institute and published in March 2024. This therefore represents more than 8 million potential customers to support. While Crypcool has 1,000 customers, the company is not stopping at this figure and wants to welcome more investors.
Raising awareness about cryptos
“The goal is to raise awareness among people who are not in crypto,” says Cécile de Larrard. “So we have to explain the process of transferring cryptocurrencies from an exchange platform, the rules, security… We also organize webinars once a month on the platform’s features or on taxation,” she explains. The majority of Crypcool customers are between 40 and 90 years old.
“These are people who consider heritage in the long term,” concludes Cécile de Larrard.
Crypcool’s strength lies in the support of its clients by advisors. Here, there is no chatbot to interact with, it is humans who are present for investors. On the asset protection side, as with physical gold, clients’ funds are secured in “cold” wallets, kept in the group’s vaults in Geneva, Switzerland. Note that Crypcool charges a fixed fee of 3% when buying cryptos, 1% when selling and 1.5% when exchanging.
Crypcool has been one of the top 100 French companies registered as PSANs with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) since September 19, 2023. Today, with 6 employees and a turnover of 4.5 million euros, Crypcool is expanding rapidly. For its part, the Aucoffre group as a whole has around sixty employees and claims 50,000 customers.
