The LA Times reports that Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that removes obstacles to businesses legally accepting and trading in bitcoins in California.

Assembly Bill 129 repeals part of California’s Corporations Code (Section 107) that restricted the use of bitcoins and other digital currencies as money in the state. The bill strikes language that bars the use of “anything but the lawful money of the United States.”

The law was previously rarely enforced but its presence, alongside the presence of such language in other state laws, provides for uncertain regulations around many online currencies.

After Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento) introduced the bill, he noted that the law simply followed a national trend towards acknowledging that digital currencies are becoming the norm in online transactions.

“In an era of evolving payment methods, from Amazon Coins to Starbucks Stars, it is impractical to ignore the growing use of cash alternatives,” Dickinson said in a recent statement.

Bitcoin regulation has been a legal minefield in the US

The legal status of bitcoin as money has been a concern and obstacle for its adoption in the United States. With judicial decisions, states, and federal government agencies diverging in their treatment of digital currencies it has led to some confusion as well as new opportunities.

In 2013, all eyes had been on New York when the New York Department of Financial Services began to subpoena Bitcoin-related businesses. From the resulting hearings New York has prepared to legitimize bitcoin in the state via through licensing.

The US Treasury Department has ruled on regulatory issues regarding the exchange of bitcoins and money laundering regulation.

The Internal Revenue Service has made official that bitcoins “will be taxed as property, not currency.”

It should be noted that California is home to the Bitcoin Foundation, who once received a cease and desist order from the CA Department of Financial Institutions demanding that the foundation stop trading in bitcoins. The takeaway, of course, is that the Bitcoin Foundation does not engage in transmitting money or trading bitcoins; the Foundation is a Bitcoin advocacy and advisory group and serves only a social function.

photo credit: “Welcome to California” cc curtisperry on Flickr