The European Union (EU) has released its “largest package” of sanctions against Russia in two years, calling them broad and restrictive. They are specifically targeting crypto with a complete ban on providers and platforms established in that country.
“Russia is increasingly dependent on cryptocurrencies for international transactions,” the EU said in an April 23 statement. “The EU introduces a comprehensive sectoral ban on providers and platforms established in Russia that enable the transfer and exchange of crypto assets.”
The bloc also banned Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the ruble-pegged stablecoin RUBx, as well as any EU support for the development of the digital ruble.
The sanctions include measures against 20 Russian banks and four third-country financial institutions and entities connecting to the Russian Financial Message Transfer System (SPFS), the Russian banking messaging network, according to a report from Chainalysis.
The blockchain intelligence firm said the EU also imposed sanctions on TengriCoin, a Kyrgyz crypto exchange operating under the name Meer.kg, where significant amounts of the government-backed A7A5 stablecoin are traded.
The move follows years of increasing enforcement targeting the broader Garantex-Grinex-A7A5 ecosystem which has been closely monitored, Chainalysis noted.
As noted, A7A5 has been prolific, processing $119.7 billion to date and functioning as a purpose-built settlement rail to connect sanctioned Russian companies to the global financial system, the company said. In the 2026 Crypto Crime Report, this figure surpassed $93.3 billion in less than a year.
“The new measures now create an ecosystem-wide crypto restriction on Russia and Belarus,” the blockchain intelligence firm said.
The company said that EU nationals are now no longer allowed to transact with cryptocurrency service providers (CASPs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms from Russia and Belarus. They are also prohibited from providing crypto services on the Crypto Assets Regulatory Markets (MiCA) to Belarusian individuals and entities.
The EU also said that “offsetting transactions with Russian agents are now prohibited, to prevent circumvention of EU sanctions.”
Countries mentioned in the sanctions package in relation to financial services, trade flows or intermediary activities include Kyrgyzstan, China, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
