Russia's Prosecutor General has declared use of bitcoin illegal in the country, charging that the currency is used for money-laundering and other illegal purposes.
The office reiterated that the ruble is Russia's official currency. "The introduction of other types of currencies and the issue of money surrogates are banned," continued the statement, which was quoted in Russia Today.
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Russia's Central Bank also warned citizens last month that such crypto-currencies can be used to subsidize illegal activity, including terrorism. The Central Bank also advised Russians that crypto currencies carry a high risk of devaluation.
Russia, which has just kicked off the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, joins just a handful of countries, including China and Denmark, that outlaw bitcoin. Germany, Finland, Canada and Singapore, meanwhile, have ruled that bitcoins should not be exempt from taxes.
In the U.S., bitcoin is legal, but it carries a similar stigma of illegality. As early as 2012, the FBI noted that the currency could be used for illicit activity. One such high-profile case was Silk Road, the online black market for illegal drugs, that used bitcoin exclusively as its currency.