UK Sanctions 18 Crypto, Digital Payment Platforms Linked to Russian War Financing

The UK government has placed multiple cryptocurrency exchanges and digital payment networks on its sanctions list over allegations they were involved in financing Russia's war effort.

Finance Feeds reported on May 27 that the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office designated digital-asset platforms used to help Russia evade sanctions and settle payments for oil exports under new financial sanctions.

A key target is A7, a payment network described as linked to the Russian government. UK authorities said the A7 network moved more than $90 billion last year and was used for military procurement and payments tied to oil transactions.

A total of 18 entities and networks were added to the sanctions list, including EXMO Exchange Limited, peer-to-peer platform Bitpapa, payment platform Rapira and Nueva Cryptologia.

UK financial institutions and credit institutions are now barred from conducting fund transfers with the sanctioned firms or providing them with financial services. Assets tied to the sanctions targets will be frozen, and related transaction processing is also prohibited.

The UK said the sanctions are intended to disrupt Russia's digital sanctions-evasion financing network and weaken its ability to fund the war at the state level.