Your crypto-currency is good with Gavin Newsom.
The California lieutenant governor is one of the first high-profile politicians to accept campaign contributions in Bitcoin, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Bitcoin, the newspaper noted, is the cash-in-trade of the "technorati" -- which also includes hackers and alleged drug smugglers, such as the shadowy founder and operator of Silk Road.
So what's in it for Gavin, the famous early-adopter who also got behind gay marriage before it was the thing?
Coolness, the newspaper reported. "What it does is say, 'Hey, Millennial generation. I'm cool, too,'" the former political strategist and current cryptocurrency startup founder Robert Molnar told the newspaper.
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, who like Newsom is also an advocate of marijuana, also accepts Bitcoin contributions.
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Newsom himself said that the biggest challenge when accepting Bitcoin is Bitcoin itself. Namely, how to explain it to non-believers.
Once an avowed skeptic, the former San Francisco mayor says that he now finds the notion of cryptocurrency "fascinating," following prodding from the likes of Silicon Valley magnate Marc Andreessen, the newspaper reported.
So far, at least one San Francisco resident, Brad Stephens, doled out $6,800 -- the maximum -- in Bitcoin to Newsom's re-election bid, though federal and state regulators still aren't sure exactly what to do and how to regulate Bitcoin contributions.
