California Governor Jerry Brown has signed off on a law legitimizing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for use in the state.

The governor rubber-stamped AB 129, enacting what legislators say is a much-needed overhaul of the state codes on currencies.

According to lawmakers, the rules date back to California's founding as a US state in 1849 and its original constitution, which prohibited banks and non-government groups from dealing in their own currencies. The currency rules were later transferred to the state Corporations Code, where they remained on the books in California.