Reuters is reporting today that governor of California, Jerry Brown, has passed a bill that effectively changes the state’s stance on alternative currencies. The bill, dubbed AB 129, nullifies an older bill that made other currencies besides the dollar illegal.
Below’s the exact language:
The bill applies to points systems like Amazon Coins or Starbucks Stars, but also to new currencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin.
“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 State Assemblyman Roger Dickinson in a recent statement to the LA Times.
California’s new bill however doesn’t change a lot in terms of the actual use of Bitcoin since the prior bill was largely unenforced.
The most interesting and exciting part of the bill, in fact, might be an appearance by none other than Kanye West. In the comments section of the bill referencing alternative currency COINYE comes this line:
Facing legal action, creators of COINYE have ended the project and COINYE is now Lost in the World, but may have been nothing more than a Dark Fantasy.
“Sometimes I like to get creative when I’m writing analyses,” said Mark Farouk, who drafted the bill. “I’ve found it helps people remember the actual subject matter.”
