Binance cuts ties with 16 crypto players. Since August 14, 2026, the giant no longer processes their transactions in order to comply with international sanctions related to the war in Ukraine and anti-money laundering requirements. Among the targeted platforms is HTX (formerly Huobi), a global heavyweight in the sector. Under European and American regulatory pressure, Binance now prioritizes compliance over interconnection between exchanges. This decision reveals how sanctions and regulation are beginning to reshape relations between major crypto platforms.
In brief
- Binance interrupts transfers with a group of crypto exchanges, including the giant HTX, according to a timeline from August 7 to 23, 2026.
- Any transfer to or from these entities after the deadline will trigger a compliance check that may result in wallet freezing.
- These restrictions stem from EU and US sanctions targeting circumvention of Russian sanctions and money laundering.
- Justin Sun qualifies the impact by targeting only European and British residents, while confirming ongoing negotiations with regulators.
Binance: a strict execution schedule and a progressive indexing
Two distinct execution phases were decided by Binance in its operational schedule. This choice constitutes a gradual but also irreversible break with the targeted entities. The first phase began immediately during the first half of this August. From August 7, the exchange platform cut off access to various financial flows coming from and going to Shelbit and Aban Tether Exchange.
On August 13, this swiftly followed measure led to the exclusion of three other companies: A7 Nigeria, A7 Africa, and PilotFinance Ltd. Indeed, it should be noted that this restriction measure is to take full effect during the second phase, the date of which is set to August 23. From this date, the list of all platforms will expand to include Rapira, Aifory Pro, ABCeX, WhiteBird, NoOnecrypto, Tradex, Monease, BitPapa, Exnode/Exnode Pay, EXMO Ltd., as well as the company Huobi Global SA, operating under the HTX brand.
In practice, the consequences of such an operational ultimatum for Binance users are direct and unambiguous. Thus, the exchange asks its clients to strictly refrain from issuing or receiving funds related to these 16 entities after their respective cutoff dates. For the platform, the date of August 23 is considered a point of no return for all actors on this list.
Thereupon, Binance warned that any transaction attempt related to one of these services beyond the allotted deadline will automatically trigger a compliance review by its internal teams. Such a reinforced control procedure will therefore result in direct restrictive measures or the temporary freezing of the wallets of all affected users, demonstrating the severity of the control implemented to seal the group’s financial circuit.
To provide clear and complete visibility on the various actors excluded from its ecosystem, here is the detailed summary of the 16 entities targeted by Binance’s restriction schedule :
