Russia has stated that it doesn’t trust the Bitcoin and believes that it should be avoided.

The Central Bank of Russia has released a statement where they say that the ruble is the official currency, Bitcoin is essentially a surrogate for money, and that people, more importantly their citizens, shouldn’t get involve with it.

“The Bank of Russia has warned that Russian legal entities providing services for the exchange of ‘virtual currency’ in rubles and foreign currency, as well as for goods (works, services) will be considered as a potential involvement in the implementation of suspicious transactions in accordance with the legislation on counteraction to legalization (laundering) proceeds of crime and financing of terrorism,” the statement, which was translated through Google Translation by TechCrunch, said.

Despite the fact that Bitcoin was built to avoid regulation, governments around the world have been discussing ways on how to regulate it, thanks in no small part to the rise in its popularity as well as value. As it turns out, it seems to be easier to ban the currency than try to regulate it… although we question how a country can ban an anonymous online virtual currency.

[via TechCrunch, image via PerfectHue’s flickr]