The bitcoin community was abuzz recently upon hearing news that Branden Petersen, a State Senator from Minnesota, was about to launch ‘yesbitcoin,’ a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to increasing public and commercial awareness of bitcoin. The launch announcement was bolstered by an op-ed piece Sen. Petersen submitted to cryptobizmagazine.com, in which the State Senator laid out some of his reasoning for launching the non-profit.

For some, the announcement comes as something as a surprise. Petersen is certainly not a big name in the cryptocommunity - most people outside his district had never heard of him until the announcement.

Prior to getting into into the MN state legislature in 2010, Petersen was working as a Sales Manager for Lowe’s Home Improvement. After serving a two year stint in the Minnesota House, he was then elected as the State Senator for District 35 in 2012.

Sen. Petersen’s voting record is fairly interesting for Republican. While there are some of the typical votes against minimum wage increases and various spending bills, he has also supported Medical Marijuana (though he voted against the final compromise bill later), and he earned the ire of fellow Republicans when he co-authored the same-sex marriage bill that later passed.

So far, details about the new organization are still pretty thin. HashReport reached out through email to the State Senator to ask him to help the community get a better picture of what it is he plans to do. Petersen responded that he envisions yesbitcoin to be a key player in terms of “consumer-focused messaging” that can “tell the story to the lay consumer through channels they are familiar with, in terms they are familiar with.”

Sen. Petersen also mentioned that he owns bitcoin himself, and that he first learned about the digital currency in 2012 through social media.

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