UK Sanctions HTX Over Russia Ties — Major Exchanges Tighten…

The United Kingdom has added crypto exchange HTX to its Russia sanctions list, citing reasonable grounds to suspect the platform provided financial services connected to sanctioned entities — including exchange Garantex and the A7 network, whose A7A5 stablecoin is pegged to the ruble. British authorities allege the A7 network channelled an estimated $1.5 billion back into Russia through a Kyrgyz bank and a major crypto exchange, and claimed to have moved over $90 billion last year — roughly half of Russia's annual military expenditure.

The designation carries immediate, concrete consequences. UK financial institutions are barred from doing business with HTX, and UK-registered virtual asset service providers are legally required to freeze funds connected to the designated entities.