The UK government has officially sanctioned the crypto exchange HTX, accusing it of being a key infrastructure for Russia to evade Western sanctions and allegedly assisting in transferring around $1.5 billion back to the Kremlin. Previously, HTX (formerly Huobi) has faced ongoing compliance controversies since being taken over by Justin Sun. In February this year, it was flagged by the FCA for alleged illegal promotions, and now it has been directly added to the UK's sanctions list. The pressure on cross-border compliance in the crypto industry has reached a new level.