# European Commission Launches Crypto Task Force on Russia Sanctions Evasion By Riza Dagoc Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/52194 Published: 2026-11-09T09:46:46.000Z Updated: 2026-11-09T09:46:46.000Z Section: Regulation > The informal group will bring together Commission and member-state specialists. Its launch did not impose a new transaction ban. The European Commission has launched a crypto sanctions task force to address evasion of restrictions on Russia, bringing specialists together as the EU expands its controls on digital asset services. After a Nov. 5 sanctions enforcement meeting, financial services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque announced the task force. The informal group will draw on Commission and member-state expertise to examine how crypto assets are used to bypass existing measures and develop responses. “We will not allow new technologies or third-country jurisdictions to become safe havens for sanctions evasion,” Albuquerque said. The Commission is also creating a separate sanctions office to provide member states with faster guidance, data sharing, and economic and technical analysis. The task force’s launch did not impose a new transaction ban. The EU prohibited transactions involving A7A5, a ruble-backed stablecoin, on Oct. 23, 2025. The same sanctions package targeted the stablecoin’s developer, its Kyrgyz issuer and a related trading platform. On April 23, 2026, the EU imposed a sector-wide ban on crypto providers and platforms established in Russia that enable transfers or exchanges. A July 23 package extended transaction restrictions to 14 crypto-related service platforms in six countries. It also introduced the possibility of a full ban involving third-country crypto providers used by Russia, including transactions between those providers and EU operators. The U.K. separately [sanctioned three crypto exchanges and two payment platforms](). It identified two of the five as having handled transactions tied to Russia’s A7 network. At a separate EU sanctions forum on Nov. 6, representatives from the United States, the U.K. and other countries discussed crypto-related evasion. Ukrainian officials joined a dedicated session. ## Links in this article - [sanctioned three crypto exchanges and two payment platforms](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/28917)