In brief
- The European Union included HTX, the crypto exchange owned and advised by billionaire Justin Sun, in the 21st package of Russia sanctions it adopted Thursday.
- Listed under its operator, Huobi Global SA, the exchange was placed on an EU annex of firms "significantly frustrating" its Russia sanctions, triggering a transaction ban from August 23 but no asset freeze.
- The move follows the UK's May designation of HTX, which the exchange denies warrants sanctions, saying such actions lack supporting evidence.
The European Union has added HTX, the crypto exchange owned and advised by billionaire Tron founder Justin Sun, to its latest round of Russia sanctions.
The exchange was caught in the EU's 21st sanctions package, adopted Thursday, which the bloc called its largest batch of individual listings in four years, at 218. HTX appears under its operator, Huobi Global SA, on an annex of crypto and financial firms the EU accused of "significantly frustrating" its Russia measures.
From August 23, people in the EU will be barred from transacting with the exchange, though the listing does not freeze its assets or amount to a full designation. HTX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
I welcome the agreement on the 21st sanctions package against Russia.
At a time when Ukraine has built military momentum, our sanctions continue to weaken the economic foundations of Russia’s war effort.
We’re adding 32 more Russian banks to our transaction ban list.
As well…
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 23, 2026
A wider crypto net
The package sharply widened the bloc's crypto measures. It extended the EU's transaction ban to 14 crypto-related service platforms based in Georgia, Panama, the UAE, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus, and added four designations tied to the "A7" cross-border network, citing its new links to Africa.
For the first time, the EU also raised the possibility of imposing a full ban on a third country's crypto services, framing it as a deterrent to jurisdictions that host platforms helping Moscow evade restrictions. "We're hitting over a hundred banks and crypto operators," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement, adding that, “With each round of sanctions, we squeeze Russia’s economy and its capacity to prolong its illegal war.”
HTX, formerly Huobi and founded in China in 2013, is one of the world's largest exchanges, reporting more than $3 trillion in trading volume in 2025. The UK sanctioned it in May—the first time Britain applied the measure to an exchange of that scale—flagging it as suspected of channeling more than $1.5 billion to the Kremlin and accusing it of servicing A7, whose ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5 experts say Moscow uses to move money.
HTX pushes back
The EU listing lands two days after blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs said HTX had "rebuilt its on-chain plumbing" since the UK action, cycling hot wallets across TRON, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Solana fast enough that address screening "cannot keep pace." At the time, TRM noted that neither Washington nor Brussels had designated the exchange—a gap the bloc has now partly closed.
HTX has rejected the accusations. It told Decrypt the wallet activity reflected "routine, security-driven platform operations.” After the UK action, HTX claimed that Huobi Global S.A., was "distinct from the online HTX exchange," with user funds safe and operations unaffected—though the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation emphasized that Huobi’s ownership of HTX makes the exchange subject to its sanctions regime.
Sun, whose U.S. fraud case was settled by the SEC this year for $10 million, was once a prominent backer of the Trump family's World Liberty Financial before that relationship curdled into dueling lawsuits. For now, the U.S. Treasury's OFAC has yet to move against HTX, leaving enforcement uneven across jurisdictions.
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