The EU Council has adopted its 20th sanctions package against Russia. It includes serious restrictions for the cryptocurrency sector.
For the first time, the European Union did not target individual platforms but instead imposed a sectoral ban on all crypto services registered in Russia.
The EU regulation explains why it has shifted to a sectoral approach. In February 2025, the Garantex crypto exchange was added to the sanctions list for facilitating access to the global financial system for sanctioned individuals.
However, the measure proved ineffective. Investigations showed that Garantex's operations simply migrated to other Russian legal entities.
The regulation acknowledges that targeted inclusion of individual exchanges and platforms in sanctions lists only leads to the emergence of new structures for circumventing restrictions. Hence, the decision was made to ban the entire sector at once.
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What Exactly Has Been Banned
The BeInCrypto editorial team has reviewed the materials and compiled all the prohibitions mentioned in the new package into a single overview.
The main measure is a ban on any direct or indirect transactions with crypto providers and cryptocurrency exchange platforms from Russia. The rule is enshrined in Article 5bb of Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 and Article 1bb of Decision (CFSP) 2026/508.
The ban will take effect on May 24, 2026. Before that date, market participants can complete their current contracts.
Exceptions are provided for EU diplomatic missions and partner countries in Russia, for EU citizens who lived in Russia before February 24, 2022, and for companies winding down business in Russia, but the latter require authorization from the competent authorities of an EU member state.
Ban on Specific Crypto Assets and the Digital Ruble
The list of crypto assets with which transactions are prohibited has been expanded. The RUBx cryptocurrency has been added. Also prohibited are operations with central bank digital currencies from the sanctions list and any support for their development from the EU. This measure is primarily aimed at the digital ruble.
A Kyrgyz organization that operates a crypto exchange with notable trading volumes of the ruble stablecoin A7A5 has been placed under personal sanctions. The name of the organization is not disclosed in the press release.
It will appear after the publication of the annexes to the regulation in the Official Journal of the EU. Earlier, in the 19th sanctions package, the EU had already introduced a ban on A7A5 and the affiliated Kyrgyz companies Old Vector and Grinex.