Bitcoin Forum

The bill looking to make Bitcoin a legal currency in California is now going to the Governor (http://www.thedomains.com/2014/06/27/bitcoin-as-a-legal-currency-in-currency-bill-is-off-to-governor-brown-for-signing/)

Is it simply a repeal of the old law or does it seek to tax and regulate as well? If it is just a repeal you have to like this one. Hopefully Brown signs it.

in california they are fast signing only gay-friendly bills

They aren't really gay friendly, they are political pandering bills. Most gay people just want to be left alone like the rest of us. The vocal minority is pretty much hated among gays as well. 

is this a good thing for Cali?

Australia treats BTC as a currency now...including tax by the ATO

I know I post this a lot, but it bears repeating.  Bitcoin is technically a currency, because it is a medium of exchange with current value.  And that's all a currency is.  But it is not a regulable currency, because it is not backed, it is not claimed to be backed, and it is full-reserve.  It cannot be taxed.  It cannot be outlawed.  So there's no real way to determine the motivation behind this change in wording.  But declarations such as these hold almost zero weight in the long term.

How can this be? Isn't this basically allowing a state to have currency control akin to that of confederate states?

I'd love to see how the Federal Government reacts to this, even though I doubt it will get signed.

Money has a closer definition for bitcoin than currency, especially right now, considering the fact that bitcoin is not "widely used" and the fact that bitcoin is effectively exchanged using a "spot price" conversion or a bartering.  I definitely agree that bitcoin is money.  I don't agree completely that it is currency yet, and I wish people would actually understand how taxes work before pushing for "currency" classification (at least in the US).  That having been said, you didn't mention taxes or legality, and I'm posting this primarily to recommend you look at the other definitions of currency and then look at the definitions of money.  I believe you'll see what I mean.

Bitcoin is backed by the security of the network via the miners.

It is not a very good store of value as the price of bitcoin is not sable as it is not uncommon to double digit percentage swings in the price of bitcoin. On the other hand the dollar rarely sees prices swings that exceed 1% in it's price

When are people going to wake up to the fact that making something legal is always an attempt to control it.

In the United States, all the rights that are not spelled out for government to do are reserved for the States and the people. In other words, Bitcoin and anything else is legal without government doing anything.

The thing that isn't legal is people harming other people or damaging their property. People can harm others with Bitcoin, guns, fists, cars, and a million other ways.

So, do you see what I just said? Attempting to legalize Bitcoin or anything is is simply a way for GOVERNMENT to harm and damage people. It's a way for one group of people to harm another group.

Bitcoin legalization won't work. Why not? It may look like it is working, but then the devs - or somebody - will turn it into something that is impossible for government to control.

Remember, legalization is a trick to make you think that you need to be under someone else's control.

:)

For fuck's sake California...