Europe sanctioned crypto exchange HTX. Experts say the firm is deploying tactics that could blunt the impact.
Recent moves by cryptocurrency exchange HTX could soften the blow of new sanctions on the firm, experts warn, including a European Union ban on transactions.
One of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, HTX is closely associated with the crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who was a primary booster of the Trump family’s digital currency business before the relationship recently soured. The European Union last week included the exchange in a roster of 18 firms allegedly involved in Russia’s vast crypto ecosystem, which the country has used to evade Western sanctions aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
HTX did not respond to repeated requests to comment on this story, but the exchange recently told Bloomberg News that regulatory compliance is “our absolute top priority.”
Reporting from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Coin Laundry investigation, which explored illicit uses of cryptocurrency, found accounts at HTX, previously called Huobi, tied to accused Russian money launderers and to an organization known for funding Russian military entities.
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