EU hits Russia with massive 21st sanctions package targeting $120B crypto network
The European Union has introduced its 21st sanctions package against Russia, targeting a $120 billion cryptocurrency network used to evade existing financial restrictions. The measures include asset freezes on 94 financial institutions and new powers to ban transactions with crypto providers facilitating Russian evasion.
Why it matters
This represents a significant escalation in the use of financial technology regulation as a tool of geopolitical warfare, specifically targeting the role of digital assets in circumventing international sanctions.
The EU is also extending its transaction ban to 14 unnamed crypto-related service platforms based in Georgia, Panama, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus.
Chainalysis recently noted that on the A7 network , where the A7A5 stablecoin operates, has processed nearly $120 billion to date and that it is purposely built for Russia’s sanctions evasion.
"We’re hitting over a hundred banks and crypto operators, 40+ vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet, and several oil refineries in Russia and Belarus," Kaja Kallas, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and chair of the Foreign Affairs Council, said in a statement.
The EU announced its previous package of sanctions against Russia in April, saying it was the “biggest package” of sanctions against the country in two years. In that statement, the EU said “Russia is becoming increasingly reliant on cryptocurrencies for international transactions.”
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