EU Proposes Banning 11 Crypto Platforms in New Russia Sanctions

The European Union wants to ban transactions on 11 crypto platforms as part of its 21st sanctions package against Russia. Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, announced the proposal Monday. She said the bloc will extend restrictions on crypto-asset services to certain third countries, moving beyond the banking sector and energy revenues.

“We will also tighten our ban for crypto-asset services to certain third countries,” Kallas wrote on X. She confirmed the package would “ban transactions on 11 crypto platforms.” The Commission has not named those platforms.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added that the package targets 31 additional Russian banks and 20 entities in third countries – banks, crypto platforms, oil traders, and refineries. The entities, she said, had served sanctioned Russian individuals or helped circumvent existing EU measures. The proposal now heads to member states for discussion.

The EU move follows UK action from late May. British authorities sanctioned Huobi Global S.A., the company behind HTX, citing reasonable grounds to suspect it supported Russia-linked financial networks. The UK specifically named links to A7 Limited Liability Company and Garantex, both already under sanctions. HTX denied the allegations, calling the sanctioned entity separate from its online exchange.

A report from Global Ledger examined HTX activity between 2021 and May 2026. The firm said HTX processed roughly $21.06 billion in high-risk crypto flows. At least $7.64 billion of that volume connected to Russian high-risk entities and darknet markets, including Garantex, its successor Grinex, A7A5, and Hydra.