EU bans crypto payments from Russia in new sanctions package

Quick Take

  • The European Union’s new sanctions slash the previous cap on crypto payments from Russia to nil.
  • The sanctions package responds to recent referenda in Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine.

The European Union has toughened restrictions on crypto payments from Russian accounts, wallets or other holding services to European ones. 

In the eighth sanctions package against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February, the bloc removed the cap of €10,000 which was established in April to a prohibition “irrespective of the amount of the wallet.”

The EU’s new sanctions also include import bans totalling up to €7 billion in an attempt to restrain Russia’s war, and lay the groundwork for implementing an oil price cap.

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Policymakers in the European institutions pushed for implementing more severe sanctions on Russia in response to the results of the “sham referenda” conducted in the occupied Ukrainian regions of  Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia – which MEPs called “null and void.”


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Inbar is a reporter covering crypto policy and regulation with a focus on Europe. Before The Block, she worked with several publications in Brussels including The Parliament Magazine and Are We Europe. Inbar holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from University College Utrecht and a master's degree in international politics from KU Leuven.

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