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The UK has sanctioned three crypto exchanges and two payment platforms that it suspects Russia is using to circumvent financial sanctions, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said Thursday.
The targets include Xeltox Enterprises, a Vancouver-registered company designated through its ownership of Cryptomus and activities "linked to and continued via" Heleket, according to the UK's sanctions notice. Kyrgyz firms TokenSpot and Tsunami Payments, which share an office tower in Bishkek, were also designated.
So was Processing KG, the operator of payment service VexPay, whose parent company is Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Finance, according to the notice. Its director, Ulan Bukabaev, was sanctioned alongside it.
Two of the targets processed and facilitated transactions with the A7 network, the government said, without specifying which.
Beyond asset freezes, the four companies face internet services sanctions, which require social media platforms, internet providers and app stores to take reasonable steps to stop UK users accessing their sites and apps.
The UK describes A7 as a Kremlin-backed "illicit finance network" used to circumvent sanctions on Russia's financial sector. The network claimed to have moved more than $90 billion last year, roughly half of Russia's annual military spending, according to the government.
The crypto designations are part of a 38-target package that also includes Russian oil companies Zarubezhneft and INK Capital. UK sanctions now cover more than 90% of Russia's oil production capacity, the government said.
The package adds 12 shadow fleet tankers, bringing the number sanctioned to more than 600, and 17 entities and individuals involved in supplying goods critical to Russia's missile and drone production.
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The UK, the U.S. and the EU have sanctioned a string of crypto businesses as part of their Russia sanctions packages over the past few years. In May, the UK sanctioned Justin Sun's HTX and other crypto firms, accusing HTX of providing financial services to A7. The EU named HTX in its own Russia sanctions two months later.
The U.S. has since designated the A7 network as a transnational criminal organization, and the EU has moved toward a ban on all crypto transactions with Russian entities.
A UK operation targeting Russian sanctions evasion has also led to 128 arrests and seizures of crypto and cash.
In May, Kyrgyzstan ordered 50 companies to cease activity after state agencies flagged them for sanctions risks.
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