Two Crypto Platforms Restrict Services in Britain, Russia and Belarus

Key Facts

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority said HTX is no longer active in the UK after obtaining undertakings before the High Court preventing the platform from knowingly unlawfully promoting cryptoasset services to British consumers. The FCA said users can no longer make deposits, and new UK users cannot register on the platform. Separately, KuCoin announced the immediate suspension of services for users in Russia and Belarus, covering all its products, services and features. The platform attributed the move to “applicable legal and regulatory requirements,” without naming a specific sanction or rule. The two announcements impose practical restrictions on customers in three countries, but the parties gave different reasons in each case.

The HTX case dates back to legal proceedings launched by the FCA in October 2025 over breaches of Britain’s financial promotion rules, after the regulator said the platform repeatedly failed to engage with it. The FCA added that HTX took steps to exit the UK market after the proceedings began. According to Reuters, the regulator reached an agreement with Huobi Global under which HTX would not target, solicit or actively seek to engage with UK consumers. The FCA said it obtained undertakings before the High Court to ensure cryptoasset services are not unlawfully promoted to consumers in the UK. The regulator said the settlement terms are confidential and “do not constitute an admission of liability or wrongdoing” by Huobi Global or any other person or entity.

Britain’s financial promotion rules apply to companies marketing cryptoassets to consumers in the country, whether the company is based in the UK or abroad, and regardless of the technology used to promote them. The rules came into force on 8 October 2023, according to the FCA. The regulator says a breach constitutes a criminal offence under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, punishable by up to two years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. This means a trading platform’s place of incorporation does not exempt it from the rules if it markets its services to British consumers. Companies intending to continue operating in the market face a later regulatory deadline: the UK’s new cryptoasset regime is due to come into force on 25 October 2027.

KuCoin did not disclose how many customers would be affected by the suspension of services in Russia and Belarus. It said affected users would receive a notice with the dates and instructions needed to close their positions and withdraw their assets, while users who had not received a notice “do not need” to take action. The announcement comes amid restrictions imposed by MEXC and Bitget on Russian and Belarusian customers during the same month. MEXC said it would stop serving users in the two countries on 20 October. KuCoin did not explicitly link its decision to sanctions, referring only to applicable legal and regulatory requirements without specifying them.

The move comes as KuCoin faces regulatory scrutiny in other markets, including the United States. The U.S. Justice Department said the platform served about 1.5 million registered users in the United States between September 2017 and March 2024 and generated at least about $184.5 million in fees from them. In a statement issued in January 2025, U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon said KuCoin had for years avoided implementing required anti-money laundering policies and that the platform had been used to facilitate suspicious transactions worth billions of dollars. These facts relate to the U.S. case, and KuCoin has not cited them as a reason for suspending services in Russia and Belarus. The platform did not set a separate date for completing the shutdown, saying notices sent to affected accounts would include the dates and instructions.

The FCA urged HTX users in the UK to review information published on the platform’s website about service availability and arrangements for withdrawing any remaining assets. For customers in Russia and Belarus, KuCoin said instructions and dates would be sent directly to affected account holders. In both cases, the users concerned should consult the guidance specific to their accounts to learn about arrangements for accessing or withdrawing assets. In the UK market, companies wishing to continue operating must submit applications by 28 February 2027, ahead of the new regulatory regime’s entry into force on 25 October of the same year. UK legislation set that date for the full commencement of the cryptoasset regulations.