Russia blocks bitcoin websites over “shadow economy” fears

Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor has blocked access to five bitcoin-related websites because the cryptocurrency “contributes to the growth of the shadow economy.”

The sites include Bitcoin.org, a primary community resource for the cryptocurrency that’s run by the Bitcoin Foundation, the Bitcoin.it community wiki, the Russian-language BTCsec.com security site, the London-incorporated Indacoin exchange, and Russian bitcoin community site Coinspot.ru -- although the same service’s Coinspot.io address is not blocked, according to Roskomnadzor’s handy site-block checker. Roskomnadzor has the power to order ISPs to restrict access to certain sites. The blockages stem from a court order dating back to September 30, 2014.