Gov. Jerry Brown signs bill to legalize bitcoins

California Gov. Jerry Brown has officially signed a bill into law that will grant digital/virtual currencies like bitcoin legal currency status, officials from the Golden State's 39th governor's office have confirmed.

The Bill AB-129 seeks to update the Golden State's law under which alternative forms of value, digital currencies, coupons and rewards points, are technically being used in breach of the law.

The California Assembly approved the measure in February this year. The Senate passed the final amended version of the measure earlier this month.

Roger Dickinson, the California assemblyman who introduced the bill, said in an interview in March, "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."

Though digital currencies like bitcoin were not targeted for breaching the state's law, but previous rules could have been used to hamper the technology's growth in the Golden State, which is home to nearly 40 per cent of all bitcoin jobs in the United States.

As Gov. Brown has officially signed the AB-129 Bill into law, bitcoin enthusiasts are now waiting for a decision from the California Department of Business Oversight, which warned against the use of digital currencies in April this year.