EU sanctions target Russian crypto exchanges, stablecoins and CBDC

The European Commission made its move in response to Russia's increasing reliance on crypto transactions to circumvent sanctions amid the country's war on Ukraine.

The European Commission announced a package of crypto-related sanctions against Russia in response to the country’s military actions against Ukraine.

In a Thursday notice, the commission said the sanctions targeted Russia’s energy and financial sectors, including a “total sectorial ban on carrying out exchanges with any Russian crypto asset service provider as well as any decentralised platforms enabling crypto trading” that could be used to circumvent the measures.

The EC, composed of 27 member states in the European Union, also prohibited the use of stablecoins pegged to the Russian ruble and the central bank digital currency (CBDC) under development by the Central Bank of Russia.

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