The United Kingdom on Thursday sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges and several payment platforms as part of a package of 38 new designations aimed at financial networks it suspects of helping Russia evade sanctions.

Britain said the targeted crypto platforms and payment services may have helped Russia evade financial sanctions, with two of the businesses handling transactions involving the Kremlin-backed A7 network. The move illustrates how enforcement has broadened beyond traditional banks to crypto payment rails in the effort to restrict Russia's wartime financing.

Exchanges and Payment Processors Named

The Foreign Office named Xeltox Enterprises, the Canadian-registered company behind the crypto exchanges Cryptomus, Heleket and Certa Payments, as well as Kyrgyzstan-based TokenSpot. The measures also cover payment platforms Processing KG, which operates VexPay, and Tsunami Payments, along with Ulan Bukabaev, a director of Processing KG.

According to the statement published on the U.K. government's website, two of the targeted businesses had processed or facilitated transactions involving A7, a Kremlin-backed network that operates the ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5, which the government says is allegedly used to bypass sanctions on Russia's financial sector. A7 claimed last year to have moved more than $90 billion, according to the statement.

Asset Freezes and Payment Bans

Under the designations, assets held by the named entities in the United Kingdom are frozen. British financial institutions are also barred from processing payments to, from or through several of the firms.

In practice, a U.K. freeze immobilizes any funds or economic resources the designated parties hold within British jurisdiction and prohibits U.K. persons from dealing with them. That reach extends to companies registered elsewhere — such as Canada or Kyrgyzstan — whenever they touch the U.K. financial system or transact with U.K. counterparties.

Wider Package Tied to the War in Ukraine

The measures form part of a wider package of just over three dozen designations tied to Russia's war in Ukraine. Beyond the crypto and payments sector, the package covers Russian oil producers Zaribezjmeft and INK Capita, 12 shadow-fleet tankers, and suppliers of machinery, electronics and other goods that the U.K. said are used in Russia's missile and drone production.

Building on Earlier Sanctions

Thursday's action extends scrutiny beyond the exchanges already linked to the network behind A7A5. In May, the U.K. sanctioned several other crypto exchanges, including Huobi and HTX, accusing them of helping Russia evade Western sanctions. British authorities previously sanctioned Grinex and Garantex, while the United States later targeted the companies and executives behind the token and the exchanges. Blockchain-data firms have disputed how much A7A5 activity is actually occurring, underscoring how estimates of volumes on such networks differ across trackers.

The European Union has taken comparable steps. The EU deployed its twenty-first sanctions package against Russia in July, targeting 14 crypto companies as well as four designations related to the cross-border network A7. Taken together, the successive U.K., U.S. and EU measures mean the same networks — and in some cases the same companies — now face overlapping restrictions across multiple major jurisdictions.