The EU targets crypto platforms in its latest package of sanctions against Moscow

While the conflict in Ukraine gets bogged down, the European Union opens a new front: that of cryptos. For the first time, Brussels plans to directly sanction Crypto platforms, incorporating these decentralized infrastructure into its economic system against Moscow. A discreet, but strategic tilting, which integrates cryptos in the field of international pressure tools.

The EU triggers an unprecedented digital embargo

While many observers believe that a war is inevitable between Europe and Russia, the European Union formally integrates cryptos platforms into its economic sanctions system, for the first time since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

This September 19, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented The contours of 19^th Package of sanctions, declaring: “For the first time, our restrictive measures will target Crypto platforms and prohibit transactions in crypto”.

The displayed objective is clear: close the doors to digital transactions which could be used to bypass existing financial sanctions. This new salvo also includes restrictions against foreign banks involved in alternative Russian payment systems, as well as the prohibition of transactions with entities operating in the special economic areas of Russia.

This device marks an inflection in the European strategy, now resolved to close the breaches in the digital ecosystem. The package of sanctions, still awaiting approval by the 27 Member States, contains several structuring measures:

• Total blocking of crypto transactions for Russian residents, regardless of the platform used;

• An explicit inclusion of crypto platforms in the perimeter of the entities referred to in restrictive measures;

• The ban on financial relations with foreign banks that support Russian alternative payment systems;

• A restriction of economic operations with the special economic zones of the Russian Federation.

“As the bypass tactics are sophisticated, our sanctions will evolve to keep one step ahead”justified Von der Leyen, insisting on the continuous evolution of European sanctions.

The multiplication of Russian drone attacks against Ukraine, including violations of Polish and Romanian airspace, has also contributed to the urgency of a hardening. For Brussels, the challenge is now to lock the digital channels that Moscow could still exploit.

Crypto: an escape lever for Russia, a resilience tool for Ukraine

While Europe tightens the noose, several recent surveys have revealed the growing role of cryptos in the economic operations of Russia under sanctions.

Last March, some Russian oil companies carried out each month Bitcoin transactions (BTC) and Tether (USDT) In the amount of tens of millions of dollars to escape the restrictions.

Indeed, in July, the US Ministry of Justice charged Iurii Gugnin, alias George Goognin, a Russian national installed in New York, for having turned more than $ 540 million via its companies Evita Investments and Evita Pay, serving as a relay for sanctioned Russian entities. The bypass of sanctions by cryptos is therefore a tangible and documented reality, which partly justifies the reaction of Brussels.

Faced with this instrumentalization of cryptos by Russia, Ukraine adopts a radically different posture. Since February, kyiv has been working on the development of a Bitcoin national reserve, with a bill in the final phase, as confirmed in May the deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak.

This initiative aims to strengthen the country's financial resilience, based on an asset perceived as protection against inflation and monetary crises. “We will soon submit a bill from the sector allowing the creation of reserves in cryptos”had announcement Zhelezniak at the Crypto 2025 conference in kyiv.

The entry of cryptos into the field of European sanctions only highlights the rapid evolution of their geopolitical status. Far from being simple speculative active ingredients, they are now becoming economic war instruments, likely to play a central role in geostrategic clashes. As technologies are trivialized, their regulation stands out as a capital issue for states. While the EU tries to clog the breaches, Ukraine puts on Bitcoin as a vector of sovereignty.