Chances are that you may have heard about the tensions going on between North Korea and the rest of the world. After all, this is mostly what the media has been focusing on during the last couple of months, and it’s surely understandable given the circumstances.

However, recent reports indicate that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is now taking an unexpected interest in Bitcoin and other digital currencies. With this in mind, it appears that the regime may be funding itself with the help of the cryptocurrency, as mentioned by an intelligence research firm. So far, the news on the matter indicates that North Korea has started mining Bitcoin on the 17th of May, in order to generate more revenue that could sustain the country. While it is hard to imagine that a country could sustain itself on bitcoin mining rewards alone, this statement isn’t too far-fetched, as we’re talking about a country, rather than a company, therefore they most likely have all the processing power they need to mine bitcoin efficiently.

Every day that passes represents yet another improvement for the digital currency market, but you may still not be aware of the fact that there are countries which have not been open to the developments in the cryptocurrency industry.

The main reason behind this is the obvious s that just about anyone can make between money laundering, criminal dealings and digital currencies. Because of this, certain governments believe that they would be better off not allowing the use of Bitcoin and other currencies in their country, regardless of the fact that the number of illegal activities funded with the help of Bitcoin is quite small. Without further ado, here are some of the most important countries where both Bitcoin, but also other cryptocurrencies have been banned for various reasons.