In California, Governor D. Brown signed a law that legalizes the use of bitcoin and other electronic currencies for settlements.
With the adoption of this law in the state, it became possible to buy goods or receive services in exchange for bitcoin.
California is the largest U.S. state by population and economy. 40 million people live on its territory. The state’s economy could take 7th place in the world ranking among all countries. And this state was one of the first to introduce amendments to its legislation that legalize and legalize the use of cryptocurrencies as means of payment. First, the amendments were approved by the California Senate, and then were signed by Governor D. Brown. Now it is possible to carry out any transactions in any of the electronic currencies on the territory of California. This news was reported by LosAngelesTimes.
Representatives of the bitcoin community perceive the adoption of such a law as a serious step towards cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. According to one of the members of the legislative Assembly of the state, R. Dickson, with these amendments, the legislators only legalized what has long been the case in the field of mutual settlements. The legislator states that in an era when there are many payment methods, such as Amazon coins or Starbucks coffee shops, it makes no sense to ignore other alternatives to cash.
The first bitcoin ATM performing the exchange of cryptocurrencies for ordinary dollars appeared on the streets of Seattle. This ATM turned out to be the second in the world. With its help, US consumers were able to convert bitcoins into local currency for the first time or vice versa.
According to the US military, bitcoins can be used to implement terrorist activities. For this reason, a department for the research of bitcoin and other digital currencies was organized in one of the departments of the Ministry of Defense of the country. If these currencies, which are rapidly gaining popularity in the Internet community, can be used to implement terrorist plans, then it is necessary to develop effective means of counteraction.
The reason for this attitude on the part of the military is the anonymity of bitcoin transactions. All transactions are carried out according to open schemes, but it is impossible to get information about their details. This makes it possible to use cryptocurrencies for illegal acts. There is already a real example of such use – this is the Silk Road website. On the site, you can illegally purchase firearms or narcotic drugs for bitcoins.
The bitcoin system originates in 2009. The key difference of this system is that no government has control over this currency. Bitcoin attracts Internet users with the ease with which mutual settlements take place. The payment processing time is extremely minimized and there is no need to transfer personal data to third-party organizations, as is the case with bank payments.