New Assembly Bill 129, providing ‘legal status’ for virtual money, was signed into law in Caifornia.
According to Reuters, an American politician and the 39th Governor of California Jerry Brown on Saturday has enacted Assembly Bill 129 that will eliminate possible obstacles for bitcoin and other digital currencies. The law will provide ‘legal status’ for virtual money.
Brown has not yet commented on the bill he had signed.
The final amended version of the bill was approved earlier this month after receiving the majority of votes in California Assembly and Senate.
Issued in January, Assembly Bill 129 received first approval in February. The legislation was introduced to amend a law in California that prohibited to use anything, but US currency.
Under the law, such forms of money as coupons, rewards points and digital currencies were used in violation of the legislation. The rules could have been utilized to prevent the growth of the technology in the region which includes 40% of all bitcoin jobs in the United States.
Roger Dickinson, the California assembly member who issued the bill, pointed out that the law does not regulate bitcoin. The digital currency regulation will be carried out by other authorities.
In his recent interview to CoinDesk, Dickinson commented the bill introduction: “We’re trying to say that to the extent that alternative currencies are developed and in use, we will consider that to be a legally acceptable activity in California.”
He said the bill reflects the popularity of such forms of payment in California as bitcoin and other virtual currencies.
After the sign of Assembly Bill 129, bitcoin investors and enthusiasts in California will have to wait for a final decision from the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO), which issued release warning consumers about the potential risks of exchanging and investing in the digital currency.
Among the other alternative forms of payment, used in the United States, the bill also mentions “community currencies”, which are created by members of a local area together with merchants.
They are sometimes designed as a protest of the monetary policies in the United States.
The bill was approved on Monday, just few days after the former bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox received approval to start bankruptcy proceedings in the United States.
Mt. Gox was once the global main exchange companies for selling the digital currency until it was closed earlier this year after a hacking attack. The exchange lost about 850,000 bitcoins, which were estimated at over $500 million. The company then said it found 200,000 bitcoins.
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