EU authorities add HTX exchange to Russia sanctions list

The European Union has listed HTX, the cryptocurrency exchange formerly known as Huobi Global, in a sanctions package targeting entities it says are helping Russia work around restrictive measures. For high-risk payment teams, the useful part is simple: HTX is now on the EU radar not as a consumer brand story, but as a counterparty linked to crypto-asset and payment-service flows that Brussels says frustrate its Russia sanctions.

1. On Thursday, the European Council amended its existing measures “in view of Russia’s actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine” and added HTX to a list of 18 entities “providing crypto-assets services or payment services” established outside the Union.
2. The EU said these entities are “significantly frustrating the purpose of the prohibitions” against Russia. In plain English: Brussels is treating crypto-asset service providers and payment service providers as part of the sanctions-evasion problem set, not as spectators.
3. EU officials said the bloc has repeatedly moved against financial institutions, credit institutions and entities providing crypto-asset services or payment services that facilitate a “continued financial lifeline” for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including by connecting to the system for transfer of financial messages of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or by enabling circumvention of Union restrictive measures.
4. The same day, EU officials also announced a separate restriction: Belarusian nationals and residents will be prohibited from owning, controlling or managing crypto exchanges and digital asset service providers under the region’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework.
5. HTX had previously told Cointelegraph that “regulatory compliance remains [its] absolute top priority” and that it would “proactively monitor and strictly adhere to regulatory frameworks in all jurisdictions.” The exchange was already sanctioned by the UK, which in May said there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” that HTX supported Russia’s government by using financial services and funds facilitated by sanctioned entities.