EU Plans Blanket Ban on Russian Crypto Service Providers

The European Union is preparing far-reaching sanctions against the Russian crypto sector. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the 20th sanctions package is expected to enter into force by the end of February, pending approval from member states ^[1].

The new measures aim to stop the systematic circumvention of existing financial sanctions through cryptocurrencies. Since the SWIFT exclusion in 2022, Russian actors have increasingly used blockchains for their international payment transactions ^[1].

The EU plans a blanket ban on any cooperation with crypto service providers based in Russia. Platforms that enable Russian actors to exchange and transfer digital currencies are also to be prohibited. With this approach, Brussels seeks to end the previously unsuccessful system of placing individual companies on blacklists, while Russia simply established new companies ^[1].

However, experts doubt the effectiveness of the strategy. The decentralized structure of blockchains makes external intervention considerably difficult, as transactions occur without central intermediaries and typically do not require identification by name. Furthermore, Russia deliberately relaxed its regulations at the end of 2025 to facilitate companies' use of crypto assets ^[1].