UK sanctions three crypto exchanges tied to Russian illicit funds

The UK government has sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges and two payment platforms suspected of helping Russian entities circumvent financial sanctions.

Three of the service providers were linked to Kyrgyzstan, while two of them facilitated transactions with the Kremlin-backed A7 network, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) announced Thursday.

Cutting off these platforms makes it harder for sanctioned entities to move and access funds, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that the A7 financial network claimed to have moved more than $90 billion last year, or nearly half of Russia’s annual military expenditure.

Blockchain analytics platform Chainalysis found that two of the sanctioned payment processors, Cryptomus and Heleket, received funds from thousands of illicit counterparties, peaking at 900 entities within a single month in late 2025. 

Another sanctioned platform, the Kyrgyzstani TokenSpot exchange, was also tied to the A7 network. Chainalysis determined that TokenSpot, along with Grinex and Meer, received over $308 million from the same HTX deposit address.

In May, UK authorities included Huobi Global, the operator of crypto exchange HTX, in their sanctions package. HTX pushed back against the decision, arguing that the designation applies only to Huobi Global as a separate legal entity and said its online exchange and user funds remain unaffected.