🇪🇺 EU SEEKS TOTAL BAN ON CRYPTO TRANSACTIONS WITH 🇷🇺 RUSSIA Brussels is moving to ban all cryptocurrency transactions involving Russia, aiming to block Moscow from using crypto rails to evade sanctions. The European Commission argues that targeting individual Russian crypto firms has failed, as new entities are quickly spun up to bypass sanctions and facilitate trade linked to the war in Ukraine. Instead, it proposes a blanket prohibition on engaging with any crypto asset service provider or platform established in Russia. The plan is designed to prevent successors to Garantex, which was sanctioned by the US in 2022 for serving cybercriminal activity. Measures also appear aimed at A7 and its rouble-pegged stablecoin A7A5, which blockchain analytics firm Elliptic says has surpassed $100B in cumulative transaction volume despite prior US, UK, and EU restrictions. The proposal also includes sanctioning 20 additional banks and banning any transactions using the digital rouble, Russia’s central bank-backed CBDC, signaling a major escalation in the EU’s financial sanctions strategy.