Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) is the outsider's outsider — what other Texan would spend a freezing New Year's hundreds of miles away in New York City?

But there he was last night at the launch event for the NYC Bitcoin Center, located just up the street from the New York Stock Exchange.

Stockman's attendance was a favor to Center founder Nick Spanos, a real estate developer and Bitcoin enthusiast. Spanos helped phone bank on Stockman's most recent Congressional campaign.

The Center itself is still in something of a planning stage, existing more as a statement about Bitcoin itself, though it plans on hosting a hackathon later this month.

Stockman, a vocal opponent of Fed policy, told Business Insider last night that he wants to promote Bitcoin, whose most fervent evangelists tout as an alternative to fiat currency.

To do so, he is now accepting Bitcoin for his Senate campaign against incumbent John Cornyn.

Here's the photo: