The European Union has established a dedicated crypto task force to stop Russia from using digital assets to evade sanctions. The unit sits inside a new sanctions office created at the bloc’s tenth high-level meeting on restrictive measures. Officials said the goal is to ensure that sanctions rules are applied the same way in every member state, closing loopholes that have allowed restricted actors to keep moving funds.

NEW: 🇪🇺The EU has launched a crypto task force to STOP digital assets from being used to evade sanctions on Russia. The task force is initially set to run for 12 months, drawing on experts from Ukraine and the U.K. The EU also announced a separate sanctions office to coordinate… pic.twitter.com/0eUp3M9eVI — Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) November 8, 2026

Maria Luís Albuquerque, the EU’s Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, described the focus of the meeting. She said it was about “turning sanctions into concrete results: closing loopholes, tackling circumvention and ensuring consistent implementation across the EU.”

What the New Sanctions Office Does

The office is designed to help national authorities work together on sanctions across the bloc. Its remit covers policy design, implementation, enforcement support and anti-circumvention work. It will also study how Russia is changing its methods to get around the rules, an effort intended to keep the measures effective as workarounds emerge.

One aim is to close the gaps that have allowed Russia to keep its economy running. Another is to raise the impact of the restrictions imposed on that economy, so that the measures have a stronger effect in practice.

The crypto task force is the part of the office that deals with digital assets. EU spokesperson Siobhan McGarry said: “We know that crypto is a tool that has been used to circumvent our sanctions.” The bloc has been active in this area since July, when its 20th sanctions package targeted the whole Russian crypto ecosystem. The task force adds an operational layer to that package-level work: rather than broad restrictions alone, it is designed to name specific addresses and wallets, giving investigators concrete targets to trace.

How the Task Force Will Work

According to the Kyiv Independent, the task force is expected to operate for an initial period of 12 months. Countries such as Ukraine and the UK, both of which have already moved against Russian crypto networks, are expected to support its work with expertise developed in their own enforcement efforts.

Crypto Briefing reported that the unit is meant to trace and freeze Russia-linked crypto assets across the bloc’s financial system. It would extend sanctions designations to crypto addresses and wallets tied to sanctioned Russian parties. Blockchain analytics tools are expected to be central to that work, helping investigators follow funds and identify addresses connected to designated entities.

The European Commission is expected to lead coordination. It would work with the European External Action Service and EU financial intelligence units. The European Banking Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority are also expected to play a part, given their oversight of financial firms and crypto service providers operating in the union.

Crypto exchanges and other service providers in the EU already follow anti-money laundering rules. These obligations stem from the Transfer of Funds Regulation and the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, the EU’s regime for crypto-asset markets and service providers. The task force is expected to work closely with those firms as it builds its casework. Any address-level designations that emerge would give those firms specific identifiers to screen against within that framework.

The Networks Under Pressure

One network in focus is A7, which offered a digital ruble stablecoin called A7A5. The token recorded transaction volumes of more than $100 billion. Sanctions subsequently took down a US dollar-based exchange network linked to it, which cut the token’s usability and sharply reduced its volumes.

The EU has since added new tools. In its 21st sanctions package, it introduced the option of banning entire crypto jurisdictions. Under this approach, European exchanges would have to stop transactions with crypto services based in specific named countries, applying restrictions at the level of whole jurisdictions rather than individual services. How far those tools reach in practice will show up in two places: whether the bloc invokes the jurisdiction-level option, and which addresses the task force designates during its initial 12-month mandate.

Crypto businesses in the EU may face more compliance work as scrutiny grows. They could need to screen transactions and counterparties more closely for Russia-linked activity, adding to the checks they already carry out under existing rules. Industry groups and exchanges were reported to be assessing the effects of the new measures.

The United States has also tightened its oversight of the sector. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, part of the US Treasury, recently blacklisted the exchange MEXC. The agency said the platform processed at least $16 billion in suspicious transactions between May 2021 and May 2026. Those transactions were linked to sanctioned entities in Iran, North Korea and Russia. The move adds a transatlantic dimension to the enforcement picture: alongside the EU task force, US regulators are also acting against crypto channels linked to sanctioned jurisdictions.

This article was first published by CoinCentral.