The Bitcoin status in Russia has been unclear ever since bitcoin came out and started gaining in popularity. According to recent reports, it seems like Russia went ahead and blocked one of the largest bitcoin exchanges: BTC-e.

If you’re not yet aware, trading platform BitStamp decided to voluntarily ban Russian IPs, in order to avoid legislative issues with the country, which is getting considerably more hostile towards bitcoin and other digital currencies. In fact, these developments represent the first effects of a couple of bills, meant to criminalize cryptocurrencies, and other money substitutes on the Russian financial market.