EU sanctions target Russian crypto exchanges, stablecoins and CBDC

The European Commission announced a package of crypto-related sanctions against Russia in response to the country’s military actions against Ukraine.

In a Thursday notice, the commission said the sanctions targeted Russia’s energy and financial sectors, including a “total sectorial ban on carrying out exchanges with any Russian crypto asset service provider as well as any decentralised platforms enabling crypto trading” that could be used to circumvent the measures.

The EC, composed of 27 member states in the European Union, also prohibited the use of stablecoins pegged to the Russian ruble and the central bank digital currency (CBDC) under development by the Central Bank of Russia.

“This package puts further pressure on Russia to engage in negotiations and do so on terms acceptable for Ukraine,” said the commission. “Every day of further Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure is another day of suffering for the Ukrainian people.”

Source: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

The sanctions package came after a meeting between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussing the bloc’s support for Ukraine amid ongoing military attacks from Russian forces. 

According to the commission, Russia was becoming “increasing[ly] reliant on cryptocurrencies for international transactions” in reaction to global sanctions. This has led to measures targeting entities tied to the country using stablecoins like A7A5 and crypto operators linked to Belarus.

Related: Russia introduces bill to criminalize unregistered crypto services

Iran sanctions also under scrutiny in US

Amid the United States and Israeli military actions against Iran, many lawmakers have been questioning whether the Islamic Republic could be circumventing sanctions using digital assets.

Reports last month suggested that Binance fired individuals responsible for telling executives that that exchange facilitated $1 billion in transactions to entities tied to Iran.

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