The European Union adopted its 21st sanctions package against Russia on July 23, 2026, introducing a sweeping transaction ban on crypto exchange HTX and 14 other service platforms across six jurisdictions. The measures, which also include asset freezes on 94 banks and 41 shadow-fleet vessels, mark the bloc’s largest round of listings in four years with 218 individuals and entities targeted.
HTX, operated by Huobi Global S.A., will be barred from transactions with EU operators starting August 23. The ban stops short of an asset freeze but represents a significant escalation after the United Kingdom sanctioned Huobi Global in May. The UK action triggered warnings from OKX, which told customers that arbitrage transfers between its platform and HTX could lead to heightened account scrutiny. British authorities cited Huobi Global’s alleged role in providing financial services to entities linked to Russia’s A7 cross-border payments network.
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs reported that HTX rapidly rotated hot wallets across Tron, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Solana following the UK designation, with some addresses active for only hours. This constant turnover rendered static blocklists obsolete, forcing compliance firms to adopt behavioral tracking methods. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT criticized the volume of tainted addresses, saying he now ignores sanctions-based tracing because “risk itself has become meaningless.”
The EU’s new package goes further by introducing a mechanism to ban transactions with crypto providers across entire third countries that host platforms used for sanctions evasion. Brussels identified providers in Georgia, Panama, the UAE, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus, including previously sanctioned names like EXMO, BitPapa, and Rapira. The bloc also targeted entities linked to the A7 network, including its Nigeria and Africa operations, after the network expanded into Lagos and Harare and processed over $90 billion in 2025. The A7 network’s ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 has become a major settlement vehicle, and TRM Labs noted that transaction flows shifted to this infrastructure after the multinational crackdown on Garantex.
