The UK has sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges and two payment platforms it suspects Russia uses to circumvent financial sanctions, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) announced Thursday. The crypto designations form part of a 38-target package that also hit Russian oil producers Zarubezhneft and INK Capital, plus 12 additional shadow fleet tankers.

The crypto targets include Xeltox Enterprises, a Vancouver-registered company designated through its ownership of Cryptomus and activities "linked to and continued via" Heleket, according to the UK sanctions notice. The FCDO also designated Kyrgyz firms TokenSpot and Tsunami Payments, which share an office tower in Bishkek.

"Putin's war depends on money, oil revenues and the networks that help sustain them," the FCDO said in its announcement. "Today, the UK is imposing 38 new sanctions to disrupt those networks. The message is simple: if you help Russia fund or equip this war, you will face the consequences."

What do the designations cover?

The package extends beyond crypto. So was Processing KG, the operator of payment service VexPay, was designated alongside its director, Ulan Bukabaev. Its parent company is Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Finance, according to the notice.

Two of the designated targets processed and facilitated transactions with the A7 network, the government said, without specifying which two. The UK describes A7 as a Kremlin-backed "illicit finance network" used to circumvent sanctions on Russia's financial sector. The network claimed to have moved more than $90 billion last year — roughly half of Russia's annual military spending, according to the government.

The sanctions carry two layers of enforcement:

• Asset freezes on all four designated companies.
• Internet services sanctions, requiring social media platforms, internet providers and app stores to take reasonable steps to block UK users from accessing the firms' sites and apps.

The internet-services measure matters operationally for the crypto exchanges: it forces distribution channels — Apple's App Store, Google Play and UK ISPs — to act as enforcement agents, cutting off retail access even before any asset seizure occurs.

How does this fit the broader sanctions effort?

The oil dimension is substantial. With the latest designations, UK sanctions now cover more than 90% of Russia's oil production capacity, the government said. The 12 newly listed tankers bring the total number of sanctioned shadow fleet vessels to more than 600. The package also names 17 entities and individuals involved in supplying goods critical to Russia's missile and drone production.

The UK, the U.S. and the EU have sanctioned a string of crypto businesses within their Russia packages over the past several years. In May, the UK sanctioned Justin Sun's HTX and other crypto firms, accusing HTX of providing financial services to A7. The EU named HTX in its own Russia sanctions list two months later.

Enforcement pressure has escalated on other fronts. The U.S. has designated the A7 network as a transnational criminal organization, and the EU has moved toward a ban on all crypto transactions with Russian entities. Domestically, a UK operation targeting Russian sanctions evasion has produced 128 arrests and seizures of crypto and cash. In May, Kyrgyzstan ordered 50 companies to cease activity after state agencies flagged them for sanctions risks.

For designated exchanges and payment processors, the immediate consequence is exclusion from UK financial infrastructure and distribution channels. The broader signal points to continued coordination among Western regulators, with the EU's proposed transaction ban representing the next potential market-structure shift for crypto firms still servicing Russian clients.