Key Takeaways:
The UK government designated Huobi Global S.A., the Panama-registered entity operating Justin Sun-advised crypto exchange HTX, under its Russia sanctions regime on May 26 — the first time it has applied Regulation 17A to a cryptoasset exchange.
"This page lists the entities and individuals designated on 26 May 2026 under the UK's Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019," the UK government said in its official sanctions update, which also targeted the A7 payments network and eight other crypto-related entities.
Regulation 17A, previously deployed against designated banks, prohibits UK credit and financial institutions from establishing correspondent relationships with or processing payments involving designated entities — even if the designated exchange appears only as an intermediary in the transaction chain. HTX, which recorded $3.3 trillion in trading volume in 2025, is suspected of providing services to A7, a sanctioned Russian payments network, and Garantex, a sanctioned cryptocurrency exchange.
The designation requires UK persons to freeze any funds owned or controlled by HTX and report exposure to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, with violations carrying severe civil and criminal penalties. The move compounds existing Financial Conduct Authority enforcement against HTX for illegal financial promotions to UK consumers and signals that other jurisdictions may adopt similar correspondent-banking style prohibitions for crypto exchanges.
The sanctions package also designated Rapira Group LLC, Nueva Cryptologia SAS de CV (ABCEX), Aifory Pro, Arvix LLC, Bitpapa and OJSC Virtual Asset Issuer (USDKG) — the issuer of the Kyrgyz state-backed USDKG stablecoin — for their suspected roles in servicing Russian users or facilitating sanctions evasion. Bitpapa, a peer-to-peer crypto exchange headquartered in the UAE, was previously sanctioned by the US in March 2024. Alistera Limited was designated for supporting the A7 network.
The A7 network, which the UK described as a Russia-linked payments infrastructure central to sanctions circumvention, saw its core entities and individuals designated as well: OJSC State Brokerage Company, Diamond Estate LLC, Trace Road LLC, Liran Cohen, Igor Gorin and Irina Akopyan. The network is behind A7A5, a ruble-backed stablecoin that has become a key tool for moving value across borders outside the traditional banking system.
For UK virtual asset service providers, the compliance implications are immediate and severe. Name-screening direct counterparties is no longer sufficient — firms must trace incoming deposits through previous hops and assess the intended path of outbound transfers to identify designated-exchange exposure, according to Elliptic, a blockchain analytics firm that updated its datasets to reflect the designations. The prohibition applies even where the sending and receiving account holders are not themselves sanctioned, meaning any transaction that passes through a designated exchange anywhere in the chain is prohibited.
The novelty of applying Regulation 17A to cryptoassets means compliance teams should expect close regulatory attention to how they operationalize the rules, with OFSI guidance specifically addressing the crypto context likely to follow. Other jurisdictions, including the US and EU, are expected to monitor the UK's approach as a potential model for pursuing offshore venues that have become the preferred infrastructure for Russian sanctions evasion.
Justin Sun, Tron founder and HTX's global adviser with significant ownership ties, was not personally designated. However, the action directly impacts the exchange he publicly promotes and strategically influences, potentially limiting liquidity, user access in key regions and institutional partnerships. HTX may accelerate geo-restrictions or compliance overhauls in response, while global exchanges watch for allied follow-on actions.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
