HTX, which was recently on the list of cryptocurrency companies sanctioned by the UK, moved more than $21 billion in risky money. At least $7.64 billion of asset flows were linked to Russian capital.
In May, the UK Govt punished List of entities suspected of holding rogue Russian funds and using crypto assets to hide assets and launder money. UK citizens are prohibited from interacting with sanctioned entities, while companies and exchanges cannot establish contact with UK banking entities.
The UK has imposed sanctions on long-standing entities such as Exmo Exchange, as well as numerous companies and individuals in connection with sanctions evasion.
HTX was among the most prominent entities subject to sanctions
HTX (formerly known as Huobi Global) was one of the main entities on the sanctioned list, with flow analysis showing that the exchange moved more than $21.06 billion linked to various attempts at illicit financing. The money was transferred between May 2021 and May 2026.
On-chain analysis has revealed HTX’s activities extending beyond the UK scope of tracking Russian cryptocurrency capital.
As Cryptopolitan reported, so was HTX Targeted By UK regulators for illegal asset promotion.
HTX has remained a major hub for risky transactions
According to Global Ledger data shared with Cryptopolitan, HTX was the hub of risky transfers of BTC, ETH, and USDT on the TRON network.
Russian capitals have been moved through other high-risk intermediary entities, including Garantex, Greenex, A7A5and dark web markets. HTX has been a hub for inflows and outflows from other entities as well.
| entity | Total volume (in USD) |
| Garantix | $6.16 billion |
| Greenx | $840 million |
| A7A5 | $360M |
| Hydra Dark Net | 160 million dollars |
| Kraken Darknet | $70M |
| Mega Dark Net | 50 million dollars |
HTX also interacted with legacy laundromats such as Huione Group, NobitexAnd other threatening actors. Huione Group moved $4.41 billion, becoming the second most active entity using HTX.
HTX is still in process $1.1 billion With daily volumes, it remains one of the best centralized exchanges. The market associated with Justin Sun is also one of the main places to transact USDT on the TRON network and obtain liquidity from the TRON ecosystem.
Russia’s sanctions evasion mechanism is still working
HTX has been highlighted by well-established Russian cryptocurrency laundering trails. The Greenex exchange was one of the major money laundering markets, at least until it froze all trading after the hack in April. Grinex owned $16.54 billion worth of USDT and A7A5 between March 2025 and April 2026.
The sanctions evasion network is also linked to the Russian state bank Promsvyazbank and oligarch Ilan Shor.
The Garantex exchange has also been used in the past five years, laundering $14.52 billion in ETH, USDT, and USDC alone for 2024.
Garantex and Grinex were excluded and isolated from the cryptocurrency CEX network, losing some of their volume. Despite this, the exchanges continued to operate against the sanctions and were still processing funds. Grinex was able to process $9.25 billion even under sanctions before it was frozen due to hacking.
