UK announces sanctions against HTX crypto exchange
The UK government has added the cryptocurrency exchange HTX (formerly Huobi Global) to its sanctions list due to its support for Russia. British officials state there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the platform provided financial services to the Russian government through sanctioned entities such as A7 Limited Liability Company and Garantex. This was reported by Cointelegraph.com reports. .
The Panama-based exchange is the latest entity to be blacklisted as part of the UK's efforts to combat Russian attempts to circumvent sanctions. According to UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, the Kremlin cannot hide behind crypto networks and shadow financial systems to evade restrictions.
Russia remains under constant pressure from the European Union and the international community due to the military actions it launched in Ukraine in 2022. In April of this year, the European Commission announced a new package of sanctions against digital asset operators and stablecoins linked to Belarus.
HTX had previously come to the attention of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). In 2025, legal action was taken against the company for illegal promotion of cryptocurrencies on social networks such as TikTok, X, Facebook, and Instagram. The British regulator accused the exchange of gross violations of marketing rules.
Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers are considering measures to establish criminal liability for unlicensed digital asset services. New draft laws aim to restrict crypto operations for retail investors and prohibit payments using digital assets.
