Soon after California lawmakers passed legislation that would update present day currency laws and eliminate bans on alternative currencies, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law that would see digital currencies, such as bitcoin and litecoin, legalized.
The governor signed the legislation Saturday and it is expected to remove various barriers of entry into the marketplace for alternative currencies. Brown’s office did not make any additional comments outside of signing the bill into law.
As we reported, the original law rendered all forms of commerce other than United States dollars – virtual currencies, gift cards, reward points – essentially illegal. However, the law was never enforced, but legislators wanted to ensure that there wouldn’t be a problem moving forward for the market and local communities that want to establish local currencies.
“In an era of evolving payment methods, from Amazon Coins to Starbucks Stars, it is impractical to ignore the growing use of cash alternatives,” said Democratic Assemblyman and bill author Roger Dickinson in a statement. “This bill is intended to fine-tune current law to address Californians’ payment habits in the mobile and digital fields.”
The legislation initially passed in the Senate with a 7-1 vote and enrolled Jun. 24.
It comes after Mt. Gox was given court approval to initiate bankruptcy proceedings in the United States amid its settlement with U.S. customers and the sale of its troubled bitcoin exchange website, which used to be the biggest in the world.
Furthermore, the bill will also repeal a one-year-old law ordering food handlers to wear plastic gloves when touching ready-to-eat food. The food industry railed against the measure because it hurt operations since each server had to repeatedly put on and take off plastic gloves.
The law will see the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) as the official Golden State amphibian. Meanwhile, the state will ban secured detention as a penalty for minor absentees who refuse to attend school after receiving a court order.
