Jon Matonis has been named as the new executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, taking over from Peter Vessenes.

In an announcement on the foundation's blog, Vessenes said he believes Matonis' "work experience and passion for Bitcoin will combine into something awesome" at the Bitcoin Foundation.

"I will be able to rely on Jon managing and growing the organization; this will allow me to do more of what I think I should be doing – strategizing, building relationships, fundraising and speaking," he added.

Matonis said in a post explaining his decision to take on the role that he is proud to have been associated with the Bitcoin Foundation since it launched nine months ago.

"A non-profit organization for Bitcoin can add greatly to the political and economic discourse for cryptographic money and monetary freedom," he said.

The foundation will continue to offer a helping hand to those involved in the space while educating those who aren't. It will offer assistance in bitcoin-related legal cases, including pro bono legal defence, where appropriate.

Matonis, who is also a board director at Tradehill, explained he wants to focus on expanding the foundation to become "more inclusive of the various constituencies within the global bitcoin community".

In addition to his statement on the Bitcoin Foundation's blog, Matonis told CoinDesk the foundation is "actively looking at having a strong NGO presence and focal point in the EU region by the end of the year".

Matonis rounded off his post on the Bitcoin Foundation's blog by suggesting the road ahead for digital currency is by no means a smooth one.

"Just as those against file sharing and BitTorrent technology were on the wrong side of history, so too are the institutional forces opposed to unfettered bitcoin growth. The great challenge and mandate for our time is in encouraging them to see it that way. Please join us."

We're in for a rocky ride, bitcoiners, but CoinDesk says "bring it on".