EU bans exchanges with Russian crypto services in new sanctions
Crypto EU bans exchanges with Russian crypto services in new sanctions The European Unions 27-member states have adopted a 20th package of sanctions against Russia in response to its illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the ongoing conflict, including measures to prevent Russian sanctions circumvention via the digital asset space. In an April 23 article, the European Commission said it welcomed the sanctions targeted at Russias energy, finance, trade, and military complex, including a “total sectorial ban on carrying out exchanges with any Russian crypto asset service provider [CASP] as well as any decentralized platforms enabling crypto trading” that could be used to circumvent the measures. “This comprehensive package – spanning energy, finance, and trade – will further constrain Russias capacity to fund its brutal and illegal war,” said Maria Luís Albuquerque, Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union. “It represents another decisive step in tackling sanctions evasion, targeting financial actors and infrastructure in third countries that enable circumvention.” She added that, as part of the package, “for the first time, we are activating our anti-circumvention instrument to block exports of critical EU goods to a third country used to undermine our measures.” Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, the former was