The United Kingdom has sanctioned a group of cryptocurrency exchanges, payment firms, and individuals accused of facilitating Russia’s evasion of Western restrictions and financing its war in Ukraine, including the crypto exchange Huobi.
The sanctions, announced by the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, target 18 entities and individuals linked to Russia’s “illicit financial infrastructure used to move funds, procure goods, and sustain its war.”
Key names include Huobi Global S.A., operator of the HTX exchange, Rapira Group LLC, Aifory LLC, Arvix LLC, and Bitpapa IC FZC LLC.
HTX is among the world’s largest crypto exchanges, with approximately $3.3 trillion in trading volume last year, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
Elliptic noted that HTX is suspected of serving both the A7 payments network and the Russian exchange Garantex, which had been rebranded to Grinex earlier this year and ceased operations after a $13 million “state‑backed” hack.
The U.K. also sanctioned the Open Joint Stock Company “Virtual Asset Issuer,” a Kyrgyzstan‑linked entity behind the USDKG gold‑backed stablecoin, alongside several individuals alleged of sanctions‑evasion, including Sergey Mendeleev, Igor Gorin, Irina Akopyan, and Israeli national Liran Cohen.
These measures represent one of Britain’s most robust actions to date against Russia’s use of cryptocurrencies and alternative payment systems. For the first time, the U.K. applied Regulation 17A of its Russia sanctions regime to crypto exchanges, a tool traditionally used against sanctioned banks.
Under the rules, U.K. financial firms and crypto service providers cannot maintain correspondent relationships with the designated entities or process payments tied to them. Companies may also be required to freeze funds and trace blockchain transactions linked to sanctioned platforms.
Elliptic added that the rules could compel firms to track transactions across multiple blockchain “hops,” extending compliance checks beyond direct counterparties to any wallets or exchanges appearing in a transaction chain.
A major focus of the sanctions package is the Kremlin‑backed A7 payments network, which British officials say processed proceeds from Russian oil sales and supported military procurement. The U.K. states the network moved more than $90 billion last year.
Elliptic indicated that other regulators will likely observe closely as Britain experiments with a new model for applying traditional financial sanctions rules to digital asset markets.
The sanctions took effect immediately. CoinDesk has reached out to Huobi for comment but has not yet received a response.