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Crypto exchange HTX rejects U.K. sanction allegations, says it refused ruble stablecoin listing
U.K. authorities sanctioned HTX, saying there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” the crypto exchange was helping Russia by cooperating with ruble stablecoin A7A5.
May 27, 2026, 9:58 a.m. 2 min read
What to know:
- Britain sanctioned the issuer of the ruble-linked A7A5 stablecoin and says it had reasonable grounds to suspect the HTX crypto exchange assisted the project.
- Both HTX and A7A5 executive Oleg Ogienko said the exchange rejected A7A5’s listing application, as did other centralized exchanges concerned about secondary sanctions.
- Ogienko insisted A7A5 complies with Kyrgyz, Russian and FATF rules.
The token’s issuer, A7 LLC, is already sanctioned by many Western governments.
In a sanctions note issued Tuesday, the Foreign Office didn’t provide specific evidence of any HTX-A7A5 cooperation. The ministry said it had “reasonable grounds to suspect” HTX was assisting A7, which the U.K. says is “carrying on business in a sector of strategic significance to the Government of Russia.”
“We approached all the leading CEXes several months ago in order to list A7A5, including HTX,” A7A5 executive Oleg Ogienko told CoinDesk, using crypto terminology for centralized exchanges. “But all of them rejected our application almost at once because they are scared of secondary sanctions.”
