The European Union has announced its eighth sanction package against Russia including a complete ban on Russia-originated payments to crypto wallets in Europe.
In April, the political bloc had pegged crypto payments from Russia into wallets in the region at €10,000.
However, the European Commission announced on Thursday that the prohibition has been further tightened.
The bloc said it is “banning all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet.”
The sanction, which is one of the bloc's several new 'hard-hitting' measures, is the EU’s response to Russia’s continued war on Ukraine and attempt to annex the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.
Other measures are the sanctioning of more individuals and entities, the extension of restrictions to the oblast of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and new export restrictions.
Furthermore, the new measures include new import restrictions worth €7 billion, the introduction of the G7 oil price cap on Russian oil, and a new listing criteria to punish people who facilitate the infringements of the prohibition against circumvention of sanctions.
“This package, which has been closely coordinated with our international partners, responds to Russia's continued escalation and illegal war against Ukraine, including by illegally annexing Ukrainian territory based on sham ‘referenda’, mobilising additional troops, and issuing open nuclear threats,” the European Commission explained in a statement.
The SWIFT Sanction
In March, the EU banned seven Russian banks from accessing the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT).
SWIFT is an international messaging system that allows banks all over the world to send messages and communicate cross-border payments securely and instantly.
The banned Russian banks were VTB, Bank Otkritie, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank, Novikombank, VEB and Promsvyazbank.
“At the speed of light, the European Union has adopted three waves of heavy sanctions against Russia's financial system, its high-tech industries and its corrupt elite,” the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said.
