Bitcoin is a popular virtual currency which has managed to gain a fair amount of traction. The value of Bitcoin has fluctuated and still fluctuates on an almost per-minute basis, with prices soaring as high as over $1,000 per Bitcoin, before falling back to a few hundred dollars, which admittedly is still pretty valuable. However there are concerns about the Bitcoin currency as it is not widely accepted or recognized by legal bodies around the world, including governments who have pretty much the say on how things should be conducted. China was one of the countries whose government refused to recognize the currency for use in banks, and is now followed by Russia who has similarly banned the use of Bitcoin as well.In a press release sent to Reuters, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said, “Systems for anonymous payments and cyber currencies that have gained considerable circulation — including the most well-known, Bitcoin — are money substitutes and cannot be used by individuals or legal entities.” The statement claims that this is because cyber currencies could intentionally or unintentionally lead to money laundering as well as the funding of terrorism. The Prosecutor’s office also reiterated Article 27 of Russian federal law, “The official currency of the Russian Federation is the ruble. Introduction of other monetary units and money substitutes is prohibited.”
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