Russia’s Prosecutor General office said that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency are illegal in Russia. The country cite the use of these currencies as a way to launder money and promote other illegal activities. Bitcoin has been linked to SilkRoad which sold drugs and other illegal services, and everything was paid in Bitcoin so no one could track the payments.
“The monitoring of the use of virtual currencies shows an increasing interest in them, including for the purpose of money laundering, profit obtained through illegal means,” ITAR-TASS quoted the Prosecutor General’s Office as saying.
“Russia’s official currency is the ruble. The introduction of other types of currencies and the issue of money surrogates are banned,” the statement says, meaning that these online currencies cannot be used by Russian citizens of corporations. Other countries like Denmark and China have both outlawed Bitcoins because of similar reasons that Russia cited. However, Germany, Finland, Canada and Singapore, have ruled that bitcoins should not be exempt from taxes. The United States has yet to set any regulations on Bitcoin, but they’ve been pretty relaxed so far.
Bitcoin has a lot of legal hurdles to jump before it becomes legal and people start buying and selling products. Do you use Bitcoin or own any Bitcoins? Tell us in the comments below!