U.K. authorities have imposed sanctions on crypto exchange HTX, citing “reasonable grounds to suspect” the platform was aiding Russia through potential cooperation with the ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5.
HTX has strongly denied the allegations, rejecting claims that it played any role in supporting Russia’s “illicit financial infrastructure” used to move funds and sustain its war in Ukraine. The exchange said it had explicitly refused a request to list the A7A5 stablecoin.
“A7A5 approached us seeking a listing for their stablecoin. However, after a thorough internal due diligence and compliance review, their application was rejected,” an HTX spokesperson told CoinDesk.
The stablecoin’s issuer, A7 LLC, is already subject to sanctions from several Western governments.
In its sanctions notice released Tuesday, the U.K. Foreign Office did not provide specific evidence of cooperation between HTX and A7A5. Instead, it stated there were sufficient grounds to suspect HTX may have been assisting A7, which it described as operating in a sector of strategic importance to the Russian government.
A7A5 executive Oleg Ogienko confirmed that the firm had approached multiple centralized exchanges, including HTX, in an effort to secure listings.
“We reached out to all major CEXs several months ago, including HTX, but they rejected our application almost immediately due to concerns over secondary sanctions,” Ogienko said.
Despite the rejections, Ogienko indicated that A7A5 has moved forward without relying on centralized platforms.
“At this point, we no longer require listings on these exchanges, as our business model is built on DeFi infrastructure,” he said, adding that the company remains open to future collaboration if exchanges seek to expand trading activity and attract new clients.
Speaking earlier this year at the Consensus Hong Kong conference, Ogienko said his attendance was aimed at exploring partnerships with crypto projects and protocols.
He also maintained that A7A5 complies fully with regulatory frameworks in Kyrgyzstan and Russia, as well as standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body focused on combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
