EU Proposes Ban on Crypto Platforms Linked to Russia
BITmarkets Team
Jun 10, 2026
The measures were announced by Kaja Kallas, vice president of the European Commission and the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. The proposed sanctions package targets a wide range of entities, including banks, arms manufacturers, oil traders, refineries and organizations operating outside the European Union.
“We will also tighten our ban for crypto-asset services to certain third countries, add new designations, and ban transactions on 11 crypto platforms,” Kallas said in a post on X. If approved, the new restrictions would expand the EU’s sanctions efforts beyond traditional financial institutions and energy-related businesses to include crypto companies allegedly involved in helping Russia bypass restrictions imposed following the war in Ukraine. While the proposal references 11 crypto platforms, European authorities have not publicly disclosed their identities. Requests for additional details were not answered before publication.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added that the sanctions package would also target 31 more Russian banks and 20 entities located in third countries, including financial institutions, crypto platforms and oil-trading firms. According to von der Leyen, these organizations either provided services to sanctioned Russian individuals and entities or assisted in circumventing existing EU restrictions.
Proposal follows UK action against HTX
The EU’s latest proposal comes shortly after the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Huobi Global S.A., the Panama-based company associated with HTX, on May 26. British authorities stated that they had reasonable grounds to believe HTX supported Russia-linked financial networks through services connected to A7 Limited Liability Company and Garantex, both of which are already under sanctions.
HTX has rejected the allegations, maintaining that the sanctioned company is separate from the exchange’s online operations. A later report by blockchain analytics firm Global Ledger estimated that HTX processed approximately $21.06 billion in high-risk cryptocurrency transactions between 2021 and May 2026. The report claimed that at least $7.64 billion of those transactions were linked to Russian high-risk entities and darknet marketplaces, including Garantex, its successor Grinex, A7A5 and Hydra.
Industry raises concerns over broad sanctions approach
The UK’s sanctions against HTX sparked debate within the blockchain analytics and compliance community. Some researchers argued that applying sanctions at the exchange level could have unintended consequences by affecting legitimate users who may have no connection to illicit activity.
Critics also warned that broad labeling of entire platforms as high-risk could reduce the effectiveness of blockchain monitoring and compliance tools, making it more difficult to accurately trace and identify unlawful transactions. As regulators continue to tighten oversight of cryptocurrency platforms, the balance between enforcement and maintaining effective compliance mechanisms remains a key issue for policymakers and industry participants alike.
Sources:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_26_1314
https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-russia-sanctions-11-crypto-platforms
