On July 23, EU diplomats agreed on the 21st package of sanctions against Russia. The package is the largest introduced in four years and includes 218 individuals and legal entities. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said the sanctions target more than 100 banks and crypto operators.
To maintain international payments and trade under mounting sanctions, Russian businesses had previously shifted financial flows through cryptocurrency networks and smaller regional banks. The EU has now directed its latest restrictions at that very channel.
Regulators have instructed European companies to end all financial dealings with 14 foreign cryptocurrency service providers. The restrictions block transactions with platforms that served as payment bridges between different regions. The list includes operators registered in the UAE, Panama, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and the Marshall Islands.
The European Union has also introduced, for the first time, an extraterritorial mechanism called the third-country ban for crypto-asset services. This new legal instrument allows Brussels to impose a complete ban on engaging with any crypto service providers from a specific country if Russia uses that country's infrastructure to circumvent existing sanctions.
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