TL;DR:
- Binance will restrict transactions with 11 EU-sanctioned crypto platforms starting August 23, including HTX and EXMO.
- Transfers linked to those platforms may be held for compliance review, and associated wallets could face temporary restrictions.
- The measure falls under the EU’s 21st sanctions package against Russia, adopted in July, which extended restrictions to exchanges outside the bloc.
Binance announced it will apply restrictions to transfers linked to 11 cryptocurrency platforms starting August 23, in line with the new measures from the European Union sanctions framework.
The affected platforms include HTX, EXMO, Rapira, Aifory Pro, ABCeX, WhiteBird, NoOnecrypto, Tradex, Monease, BitPapa, and Exnode/Exnode Pay. According to the notice published by the exchange, transactions involving these entities may be held for compliance review once the restrictions take effect, and wallets associated with those transfers could be temporarily suspended while the process is carried out.
Why Binance Is Imposing These Restrictions
Binance had already applied the same restrictions to five other entities in earlier rounds: Shelbit and Aban Tether Exchange were blocked starting August 7, while A7 Nigeria, A7 Africa, and PilotFinance Ltd were blocked starting August 13. The August 23 group extends a compliance line already underway, bringing the total number of crypto entities affected in the exchange’s notice to 16.
The regulatory framework behind these measures is the EU’s 21st sanctions package against Russia, adopted in July. The EU Council extended transaction prohibitions to include certain cryptocurrency platforms outside the bloc that, according to authorities, had allegedly facilitated sanctions evasion. The restrictions focus on the counterparty of the transaction, not on the crypto asset itself: Binance is not delisting Bitcoin, USDT, or any other token simply because they are available on the flagged exchanges.
HTX: Real Impact for Users
Among the 11 platforms, HTX carries the most weight. The exchange, formerly known as Huobi Global, had already been flagged by the EU in July under the same regulatory framework aimed at limiting the channels that could be used to circumvent sanctions on Russia.
For some Binance users, a transfer that was previously processed normally may now be held for review or restricted entirely if it is linked to any of the listed platforms. Sanctions controls are no longer limited to individual wallet addresses; they now require identifying links between deposits, withdrawals, and designated services, even when funds pass through intermediate addresses before reaching the platform.
