The U.K. sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges and several payment platforms on Thursday as part of a broader package of 38 new designations targeting networks suspected of helping Russia evade Western sanctions.
The Foreign Office named Xeltox Enterprises, a Canadian-registered company operating the crypto exchanges Cryptomus, Heleket, and Certa Payments, as well as Kyrgyzstan-based TokenSpot. The government also designated payment platforms Processing KG, which operates VexPay, Tsunami Payments, and Ulan Bukabaev, a director of Processing KG.
According to the Foreign Office, two of the targeted businesses had processed or facilitated transactions involving A7, a Kremlin-backed network that operates the ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5. The U.K. government statement said A7 claimed last year to have moved more than $90 billion.
The measures freeze designated entities' U.K. assets and bar British financial institutions from processing payments to, from, or through several of the firms. The action extends beyond crypto exchanges previously linked to A7A5, which include Grinex and Garantex, already sanctioned by British authorities and later targeted by the U.S.
The U.K. sanctioned additional entities in the same package, including Russian oil producers Zaribezjmeft and INK Capita, 12 shadow-fleet tankers, and suppliers of machinery and electronics said to be used in Russia's missile and drone production.
The European Union deployed its twenty-first sanction package against Russia in July, targeting 14 crypto companies and four designations related to the A7 cross-border network.
