Overview
- The European Union formally adopted the 21st sanctions package, published July 24, that adds 218 listings covering 170 entities and 48 individuals tied to Russia’s financial networks.
- The package applies asset freezes and bans on making funds available to 94 banks and extends transaction bans to 33 more Russian credit and financial institutions.
- HTX, operated by Huobi Global S.A., was placed on an EU annex that will bar EU operators from transacting with the exchange from August 23 but does not freeze its assets.
- For the first time the EU created a tool to prohibit any transaction between EU actors and crypto providers in a third country when those services are used to bypass sanctions.
- Industry and enforcement teams face practical hurdles because blockchain firms such as TRM Labs report that HTX rotated hot wallets across chains after earlier UK action, which can outpace static blocklists and trigger broad screening and account reviews.