The European Union has listed cryptocurrency exchange HTX, formerly Huobi Global, as part of a package of sanctions targeting Russia amid the country’s war on Ukraine. In a Thursday decision,
The European Union has listed cryptocurrency exchange HTX, formerly Huobi Global, as part of a package of sanctions targeting Russia amid the country’s war on Ukraine.
In a Thursday decision, the European Council amended its previous measures “in view of Russia’s actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine” to include HTX in a list of 18 entities “providing crypto-assets services or payment services established outside of the Union that are significantly frustrating the purpose of the prohibitions” against Russia. The country continues to face sanctions globally over its war in Ukraine following a military invasion in 2022.
“The Union has repeatedly taken measures to identify financial institutions, credit institutions or entities providing crypto-asset services or payment services that facilitate a continued financial lifeline for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, whether by connecting to the system for transfer of financial messages of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or by enabling the circumvention of Union restrictive measures, and to prohibit any transaction between those institutions or entities and Union operators,” said EU officials.
HTX has previously told Cointelegraph that “regulatory compliance remains [its] absolute top priority” and that the exchange will “proactively monitor and strictly adhere to regulatory frameworks in all jurisdictions.”
The sanctions against HTX came the same day EU officials announced they would prohibit Belarusian nationals and residents from owning, controlling or managing crypto exchanges and digital asset service providers in compliance with the region’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework.
The UK government imposed similar sanctions on HTX in May, saying there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” that the exchange supported Russia’s government by using financial services and funds facilitated by sanctioned entities.
