Five countries that have forbidden Bitcoin

The list of detractors of cryptocurrency is very large - from company executives to representatives of central banks. Perhaps, the greatest irritation is observed among officials and parliamentarians. However, if most states are limited to attempts to apply regulatory measures to Bitcoins, there are also those who go much further and issue laws prohibiting the use of cryptocurrency.

 Because of fear, ignorance or for protection (after all, as you know, the best defense is an attack), but many governments tend to issue laws that oppose everything that threatens their peace of mind. In the end, the prerogative of the state is governance, therefore any revolutionary technology that undermines their power should be subjected to rapid reprisals. Of course, there are exceptions to any rule and states that have adopted Bitcoins, for example, Japan, have issued laws that protect citizens in the process of free trade in digital currency.However, unfortunately, very few countries boast such progressive behavior. There are also such states where ownership and operations with cryptocurrencies are declared illegal. In especially gross cases, people's assets are seized, their accounts are frozen and blocked. Governments of states cannot stop the development of cryptocurrencies, but they can severely suppress all attempts to use them.

The prohibition of bitcoin

Trying to ban Bitcoin is just as meaningless and impracticable as banning the Internet. However, five countries are trying to do this: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nepal and Kyrgyzstan.
Therefore, the government of Nepal has imprisoned almost a dozen adherents of Bitcoin, and the last two "criminals" are accused only of running a small crypto exchange.
The most central country of the South American continent, Bolivia, took the decentralized currency into hostility - in 2014, the Central Bank of Bolivia banned Bitcoin, and the government has since sharply stopped any cases of its use. 

Prohibition, as decades of failed policy-making demonstrates, doesn't curb vice, be it drugs, alcohol, or bitcoin: all it does is push the trade underground, exposing its users to added risks and abetting unscrupulous actors. Bolivia discovered as much last year, following a cryptocurrency scam in which investors were promised 300% profits within 60 days. The pyramid scheme swiftly broke down, culminating in angry investors rioting in the streets of El Alto.

Neighboring Ecuador, meanwhile, has outlawed Bitcoin, not because it is opposed to digital currency, but because it wishes to control it and tether it to the Ecuadorian dollar. "Electronic money is designed to operate and support the monetary scheme of dollarization," explained an economist affiliated with the government. Completing the naughty list of countries that have banned Bitcoin is Kyrgyzstan, a tiny landlocked state in Central Asia, and Bangladesh. In 2014, Bangladesh Bank stated that anyone caught using the currency could be jailed, citing the usual excuses about money laundering.

Ironically, as the rule of law breaks down in developing nations, using bitcoin becomes easier. With military coups to enforce and protesters to quell, dictatorial regimes such as that currently rampaging through Zimbabwe have more pressing matters to attend. Bitcoin regulation is the least of their concerns. For Bitcoiners in first world countries, it's all too easy to rail against ignorant officials trash-talking their beloved cryptocurrency. It's worth taking a moment though to appreciate how good we've got it. Perhaps one day the ability to use Bitcoin will be a basic human right.