TL;DR
-
EU's 20th sanctions package on Russia goes after crypto directly. It's the main target this time, not a side note.
-
Banning the category, not just platforms. Any Russian or Belarusian CASP off-limits to EU citizens from May 24th.
-
Two state-backed assets banned outright: RUBx and the digital ruble.
In their 20th sanctions package against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, the EU goes after Russian crypto assets. It’s the main target of the sanctions package this time. While the union has been going after crypto indirectly by way of picking out platforms before, they’re now targeting two state-backed Russian crypto assets directly, a Kyrgyz exchange that has traded them as well as banning Russian crypto venues.
Crypto has been targeted since the start of the war. Garantex, a Russian exchange was sanctioned in 2022 and its assets were ultimately seized in March of 2025. The exchange was then relaunched, this time called Grinex and another token was used to move assets from Garantex - A7A5. It’s a Ruble pegged stablecoin which was created to circumvent international sanctions.
This proved the approach of freezing the assets of an exchange wasn’t working. As the EU writes in the text for the 20th sanctions package:
[A]ny further listing of individual crypto-asset service providers is therefore likely to result in the set-up of new ones to circumvent those listings.
So, effective May 24th, any crypto-asset service provider (CASP) based in Russia or Belarus is off-limits to EU citizens. That includes exchanges, wallets and DeFi. Additionally, two specific assets are banned outright: RUBx, a ruble-pegged stablecoin, and the digital ruble, a central bank digital currency, or CBDC.
Crypto Being Used to Circumvent Sanctions Elsewhere
Using crypto to circumvent sanctions is not new. Iran started doing it all the way back in 2019. It’s been a case of cat and mouse where sanctioned countries find new ways of using crypto to trade internationally. And sanctions follow. Just yesterday, we reported that the US has frozen digital assets belonging to the Iranian Central Bank.
It now remains to be seen if this approach works. If the 20th sanctions package, targeting digital assets, is the one that actually makes the sanctions effective. Grinex, the phoenix exchange that rose when Garantex was effectively shut down, halted operations mid-April. The exchange claims it’s because of a cyber attack but it’s just as likely Russia once again staying one step ahead of sanctions.
