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The UK has sanctioned Huobi Global S.A., listed in the designation as HTX and HTX Exchange, as part of a new Russia sanctions package targeting crypto and payment networks, London says were used to bypass restrictions on Moscow.
The designation was made on May 26 under the UK’s Russia sanctions regime. It places HTX inside a wider enforcement push aimed at financial infrastructure allegedly linked to Russian sanctions evasion.
UK Links HTX to A7 and Garantex
The UK sanctions record identifies Huobi Global S.A. as an entity listed with a Panama address. Officials said they had reasonable grounds to suspect the company supported Russia by providing financial services, funds, economic resources, goods or technology to A7 Limited Liability Company and Garantex Europe OU.
Both A7 and Garantex Europe were described in the UK record as entities active in Russia’s financial services sector. The designation does not only target individual wallets or named people. It applies to a major crypto exchange brand that UK officials say was connected to Russia-linked financial networks.
Payment and Internet Restrictions Apply to HTX
The measures go beyond a standard asset freeze. The UK imposed asset-freeze sanctions, trust services sanctions, director disqualification sanctions, internet services sanctions, and correspondent banking and payment-processing restrictions.
That means UK credit and financial institutions are barred from maintaining correspondent banking relationships with the designated entity or processing payments to, from or through it.
The package also reaches digital access. Social media services, internet access providers and app stores must take reasonable steps to prevent UK users from accessing content, sites or applications provided by designated entities where the restrictions apply. Elliptic said this is the first time the UK has used that part of its Russia sanctions framework against crypto businesses.
UK Says A7 Network Moved Over $90B
The wider sanctions package is centered on the A7 network, which the UK described as a Kremlin-backed financial system used to route funds, process oil-sale proceeds and help Russia evade Western sanctions.
London said the network claimed to have moved more than $90 billion last year, while UK officials said a global crypto exchange was suspected of channeling more than $1.5 billion back to the Kremlin.
HTX said regulatory compliance remains its top priority and that it monitors legal and regulatory frameworks in the jurisdictions where it operates. The designation shows the UK is applying bank-style sanctions tools to crypto exchanges accused of supporting Russia-linked payment networks.
