The European Union has approved the 20th round of sanctions against Russia, imposing a full ban on Russian cryptocurrency platforms and the digital ruble.

April 27 — The European Union has rolled out its most sweeping sanctions against Russia in two years, targeting efforts to evade economic penalties using digital assets. Under the new rules, crypto service providers and exchanges operating in Russia are strictly barred from conducting business. The measures also block Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) — the Digital Ruble — and the Ruble-backed stablecoin RUBx. Additionally, any EU-based entity is prohibited from providing technical support for the Digital Ruble’s development. Citing data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the sanctioned A7A5 ecosystem has processed a total of $119.7 billion in transactions. This round of sanctions also targets 20 Russian banks, four foreign financial institutions linked to Russia’s SPFS financial messaging system, and Kyrgyzstan-based exchange platform TengriCoin. Per the regulations, EU residents may not engage in any transactions with crypto or DeFi platforms in Russia or Belarus, and are forbidden from offering crypto-related services covered by the MiCA regulation.