The United Kingdom has taken action by imposing sanctions on various cryptocurrency exchanges, payment processors, and individuals accused of aiding Russia in circumventing Western sanctions and financing its military operations in Ukraine, including the crypto exchange Huobi. The sanctions, implemented by the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, affect 18 entities and individuals linked to what officials label as Russia’s ‘illicit financial infrastructure’ that facilitates the movement of funds, procurement of goods, and sustenance of its war efforts. Among those sanctioned are Huobi Global S.A., the operator of the HTX exchange, along with Rapira Group LLC, Aifory LLC, Arvix LLC, and Bitpapa IC FZC LLC. HTX ranks as one of the largest crypto exchanges globally, boasting approximately $3.3 trillion in trading volume last year, as reported by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. The firm indicated that the platform is believed to have provided services to both the A7 payments network and Garantex, a Russian crypto exchange that had previously been sanctioned by Western authorities. Garantex rebranded to Grinex earlier this year and ceased operations last month following a $13 million hack attributed to state backing. Additionally, the U.K. sanctioned Open Joint Stock Company ‘Virtual Asset Issuer,’ a company linked to Kyrgyzstan responsible for the USDKG gold-backed stablecoin, along with several individuals implicated in sanctions-evasion activities, including Sergey Mendeleev, Igor Gorin, Irina Akopyan, and Israeli national Liran Cohen. These measures represent one of the strongest actions taken by the U.K. against the use of cryptocurrencies and alternative payment systems by Russia. For the first time, the U.K. has applied Regulation 17A of its Russia sanctions framework to crypto exchanges, a regulation previously reserved for sanctioned banking institutions. According to these rules, U.K. financial firms and crypto service providers are prohibited from maintaining correspondent relationships with the designated entities or processing payments associated with them. Companies may also be required to freeze funds and trace blockchain transactions linked to the sanctioned platforms. Elliptic noted that compliance may necessitate tracing transactions through multiple blockchain ‘hops,’ extending checks beyond direct counterparties to wallets and exchanges involved in the transaction chain. A significant aspect of the sanctions package focuses on the Kremlin-affiliated A7 payments network, which British officials claim has processed proceeds from Russian oil sales and supported military procurement efforts. The U.K. asserts that this network facilitated the movement of over $90 billion last year. Other regulators are expected to monitor closely as the U.K. tests a new approach to applying traditional financial sanctions to digital asset markets. The sanctions took effect immediately. Decryptnews has reached out to Huobi for a statement but has not received a response by the time of publication.