Exchanges chase an EU license and tighten the screws on grey money, P2P and laundering
More big crypto exchanges are taking the EU's MiCA license, and EU rules come with it. A representative of a tier-2 exchange says EU regulators have started going after platforms that serve Russians. Here is what that means for anyone who funds an exchange account through P2P.
What is being reported. A Telegram channel published remarks attributed to a representative of a tier-2 exchange (neither the person nor the exchange is named). According to them, European regulators have got serious about global crypto exchanges that serve Russians. Sanctions packages will keep widening and, in their words, no global player wants to "end up where HTX is", so Russians will start being offboarded en masse, meaning their accounts closed. This comes from an anonymous source; the exchanges have made no official statements on it.
Who is at risk. The source names exchanges that already hold permission to operate in the EU as the main risk zone: OKX, Bybit, Gate, KuCoin and BingX. Their European arms hold licenses under the MiCA regulation. MEXC has no European license, but the source says it could get caught up as well.
Why now. The MiCA transition period ended on July 1, 2026: after that date, serving EU clients without a license is not allowed. Back in June, OKX Europe CEO Erald Ghoos said about 80% of crypto exchanges would not survive MiCA. A license opens a 27-country market, but in return the exchange must follow EU rules on KYC, anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions. And it is the whole group that answers for violations, not just its European subsidiary.
Sanctions already reach crypto. The EU's 19th sanctions package (October 2025) barred European crypto providers from serving Russian citizens and residents, after which Bybit EU closed sign-ups to Russians. The 21st package, adopted on July 23, 2026 and in force since August 25, went further: 14 crypto platforms based in Georgia, Panama, the UAE, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus were banned. The EU also gained a tool to prohibit dealings with crypto providers in any third country whose infrastructure is systematically used to evade sanctions. No country has been designated under it yet.
Grey money and P2P. The logical conclusion: exchanges with an EU license have no reason to keep a "grey" flow on their books. For users, that means deposits of unclear origin will be checked harder. Expect source-of-funds requests, delays and freezes on trades linked to suspicious P2P counterparties, and stricter vetting of P2P merchants themselves. This is our forecast based on how MiCA and AML rules work, not measures the exchanges have announced.
Why this is not only about Russians. The P2P sections of Bybit, OKX and other exchanges are widely used in Central Asia too. If money tied to sanctioned or fraudulent schemes passed through your account along a chain of P2P trades, the account can be blocked even if you yourself did nothing wrong.
Sources: ForkLog (19th EU sanctions package), KuCoin News (21st package, 14 platforms), SpazioCrypto (21st package, 26.08.2026), The Block (OKX Europe on MiCA, 23.06.2026), Crypto Briefing (BingX EU MiCA license)
News is for information only and is not investment advice. Use only crypto providers licensed in Uzbekistan.