The United Kingdom on May 26, 2026 applied one of the most powerful tools in its financial sanctions framework directly to cryptocurrency exchanges for the first time, targeting HTX and a network of Russia-linked payment firms accused of funnelling proceeds from Russian oil sales and military procurement.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office announced 18 designations under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The list names Huobi Global S.A. — the legal entity that operates HTX — alongside Rapira Group LLC, Aifory LLC, Arvix LLC, Bitpapa IC FZC LLC, and OJSC Virtual Asset Issuer, the issuer of the Kyrgyz state-backed USDKG stablecoin. Individuals designated include Sergey Mendeleev, Igor Gorin, Irina Akopyan, and Liran Cohen, an Israeli national.
The legal instrument used is Regulation 17A of the Russia sanctions regime — a provision previously deployed exclusively against designated banks. Applying it to crypto exchanges is without precedent. Under Regulation 17A, UK credit institutions and financial firms are barred from maintaining correspondent relationships with designated entities or any institution they own or control. Payment processing is prohibited across the entire chain: a UK firm cannot process a transaction if a designated exchange appears anywhere along its path, whether as the originating institution, an intermediary, or the final recipient. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, which published a detailed analysis of today's action, said UK virtual asset service providers will need to trace incoming deposits through prior hops and assess outbound transfers — name-screening direct counterparties is no longer sufficient.
At the centre of today's action is the A7 network, a Kremlin-backed system the UK government says moved more than $90 billion last year — the UK Foreign Office puts that figure at roughly half of Russia's annual military expenditure — in proceeds from Russian oil sales and procurement of military goods. The designations target multiple nodes of the network: OJSC State Brokerage Company, Diamond Estate LLC, Trace Road LLC, and the individuals named above.
HTX is the largest exchange caught in the action. Elliptic cited $3.3 trillion in trading volume for HTX in 2025 and said the exchange is suspected of providing services to both the A7 network and Garantex — the sanctioned Russian exchange that rebranded as Grinex and halted operations in April 2026 after a $13 million hack. HTX did not respond to a request for comment before press time. Also sanctioned for suspected links to Garantex and Grinex: Arvix LLC and ABCEX, the trading platform tied to designated individual Sergei Mendeleev.
The USDKG stablecoin issuer's designation adds a stablecoin dimension to the action. OJSC Virtual Asset Issuer, designated under a separate category for carrying on business of economic significance to the Russian government, issues a gold-backed stablecoin pegged to the US dollar and operating out of Kyrgyzstan. The UK government's press release links Kyrgyzstan's financial system explicitly to A7's infrastructure.
The sanctions took effect immediately. Elliptic noted that other regulators worldwide will be watching Britain's move, as it tests whether traditional financial sanctions architecture — correspondent banking restrictions, asset freezes, payment-chain tracing — can be applied directly and without modification to digital asset markets. The firm described Regulation 17A's extension to crypto exchanges as a "long-overdue alignment" that closes a gap bad actors have exploited since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK would "track down and shut off the financial lifelines that sustain Putin's war machine," adding that there would be "no safe havens for those enabling Russia's aggression."
Primary sources: UK FCDO sanctions designations published 26 May 2026 (gov.uk); UK government press release (gov.uk); Elliptic analysis (elliptic.co).