For correctness sake.. It was Dmitri Mendeleev

..He is credited with a remark that burning petroleum as a fuel "would be akin to firing up a kitchen stove with bank notes."

The linked official press release simply reiterates that bitcoins are getting more wide use including criminal use. That the bitcoins are not legal tender. That bitcoins are not backed by anything or anybody but speculative interest and that bitcoin holders are not afforded legal protection of their property rights in respect of their bitcoin investments. Is the word "banned" being misused here?