The European Union will prohibit Belarusian nationals and residents from owning, controlling or managing crypto exchanges and other service providers regulated under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework from August 25. The measure forms part of an amendment to the bloc’s sanctions regime against Belarus adopted on Thursday over that country’s role in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The decision takes effect on July 24, with the broadened crypto restriction applying one month later. It widens an earlier limit that covered only firms offering crypto wallet, account or custody services. Under the updated rules, Belarusian nationals and residents may not own or control any European Union-based entity that supplies additional crypto-asset services defined by the regulation, nor may they serve on its governing body.

Those services encompass the operation of trading platforms, the exchange of crypto assets, the execution and transmission of client orders, the placement of crypto assets, the provision of transfers, and the delivery of investment advice or portfolio management. The change arrives weeks after the regulation’s transition period concluded on July 1, when unauthorized crypto firms were required to cease operations or face enforcement measures.

The Belarus restriction aligns with a wider European effort to address crypto platforms and financial channels alleged to assist Russia in circumventing sanctions linked to the conflict in Ukraine. On the same day the bloc adopted its latest package of measures against Russia, it extended a transaction ban to 14 crypto-related service platforms based outside the European Union and created a mechanism permitting prohibitions on dealings with any foreign crypto provider employed by Russia to evade existing restrictions. The package builds on a June proposal that had identified 11 such platforms.

In parallel, British authorities in May imposed sanctions on the Panamanian company operating the HTX platform over alleged links to Russia-connected financial networks involving sanctioned entities. The platform stated that regulatory compliance constitutes its highest priority and that it strictly follows the rules applicable in the jurisdictions where it conducts business.