From CoinDesk · By Olivier Acuna
The U.K. sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges and several payment platforms as part of 38 new designations targeting networks suspected of helping Russia evade sanctions.
The Foreign Office said two targeted businesses had facilitated transactions involving A7, a Kremlin-backed network whose ruble-pegged A7A5 stablecoin is allegedly used to bypass financial restrictions.
The measures freeze the designated entities’ U.K. assets and also target Russian oil producers, shadow-fleet tankers and suppliers linked to missile and drone production.
The U.K. sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges on Thursday as part of a package that includes 38 new designations aimed at financial networks it suspects are helping Russia evade sanctions.
The Foreign Office named Xeltox Enterprises, the Canadian-registered company behind crypto exchanges Cryptomus, Heleket and Certa Payments, as well as Kyrgyzstan-based TokenSpot. It also sanctioned payment platforms Processing KG, which operates VexPay, and Tsunami Payments, as well as Ulan Bukabaev, a director of Processing KG.
The government said two of the targeted businesses had processed or facilitated transactions involving A7, a Kremlin-backed network that operates ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5 it says is used to bypass sanctions on Russia’s financial sector. A7 claimed last year to have moved more than $90 billion, according to the U.K. government statement.
The U.K. sanctioned several other crypto exchanges in May, accusing them of helping Russia evade Western sanctions. Among those crypto exchanges were Huobi and HTX.
The new action extends scrutiny beyond the exchanges already linked to the network behind A7A5. British authorities previously sanctioned Grinex and Garantex, while the U.S. later targeted the companies and executives behind the token and the exchanges. Blockchain-data firms have disputed how much A7A5 activity is actually occurring.
Under the U.K. designations, assets held by the named entities in the country are frozen. British financial institutions are barred from processing payments to, from or through several of the firms.
The measures are part of a wider package of just over three dozen designations tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine. It also covers Russian oil producers Zaribezjmeft and INK Capita, 12 shadow-fleet tankers and suppliers of machinery, electronics and other goods, the U.K. said are used in Russia’s missile and drone production.
The European Union (EU) deployed its twenty-first sanction package against Russia in July, targeting 14 crypto companies as well as four designations related to the cross-border network A7.