Defendants can now bail out with Bitcoin. The Federal Court in California is now accepting the “people’s currency” for releasing defendants. According to press releases, Bitcoin has never been used for bail outs until now. This is considered a major “breakthrough” as cryptocurrency payments were never used for getting someone out of jail.
The defendant that paid the equivalent of $750,000 in Bitcoin is named Martin Marsich, and was accused for hacking in a gaming firm. The bail out was allowed by the Federal Court of California using Bitcoin or any other digital coin of his choice.
The reason why the court has allowed the Bitcoin bail out is the fact that the Federal Court does not care about the possibility of fluctuating prices or exchange rates.
The main objective of the court is that as long as the bail out is paid in a proper way, as ordered by the judge, and the defendant appears in proceedings in due course, there is no problem for the type of payment.
While many consider it shocking for a court to use cryptocurrencies as payments, it is not that surprising after all. The state of California is known to be very “loose” when it comes to cryptos, so while it sets a precedent of allowing bail outs to be paid with digital coins, the increasing use and acceptance of many digital types of money seems to be supported by the legislation in the state.