The EU Just Dropped Its Biggest Crypto Crackdown on Russia in Two Years

TLDR

• The EU announced its largest Russia sanctions package in two years, including a total ban on Russian crypto providers and platforms
• Russia’s central bank digital currency (the digital ruble), the RUBx stablecoin, and the A7A5 stablecoin are all now banned for EU residents
• 20 Russian banks and four third-country financial institutions linked to Russia’s SPFS messaging network were targeted
• EU residents are banned from using Russian or Belarusian crypto and DeFi platforms
• The Kyrgyz exchange TengriCoin was also sanctioned, part of the broader Garantex–Grinex–A7A5 ecosystem crackdown

The European Union has rolled out its most sweeping sanctions against Russia in two years. The package takes direct aim at how Russia uses cryptocurrency to get around economic restrictions.

The sanctions were announced on April 23. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the package was released.

The measures go beyond just exchanges. The EU also banned Russia’s central bank digital currency, the digital ruble, which is still under development. The ruble-pegged RUBx stablecoin is also now off-limits for EU residents.

EU residents are now prohibited from transacting with any Russian or Belarusian crypto asset service provider. That includes decentralized finance platforms as well.

EU residents are also barred from offering Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation services to Belarusian individuals and entities.

Russia’s Crypto Workaround Under Pressure

The A7A5 stablecoin was a central target of the new rules. Blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis said A7A5 has processed $119.7 billion to date.

In less than a year, that figure had already exceeded $93.3 billion, according to Chainalysis’s 2026 Crypto Crime Report.

The EU also sanctioned TengriCoin, a Kyrgyz crypto exchange operating as Meer.kg. Large amounts of A7A5 are traded on that platform.

Chainalysis said this follows years of escalating enforcement against the broader Garantex–Grinex–A7A5 ecosystem. The firm said the new rules now create “an ecosystem-wide crypto restriction on Russia and Belarus.”

Banks and Financial Networks Also Hit

Twenty Russian banks were named in the sanctions. Four third-country financial institutions linked to Russia’s SPFS messaging network were also targeted.

SPFS is Russia’s domestic alternative to the SWIFT banking messaging system. The EU said netting transactions with Russian agents are now forbidden to prevent sanctions evasion.

Countries linked to financial services or trade flows named in the package include Kyrgyzstan, China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.

Reports from last month also suggested Binance fired staff responsible for telling executives that the exchange had facilitated $1 billion in transactions tied to Iran, showing sanctions evasion via crypto is a wider issue beyond Russia.

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