The United Kingdom has imposed economic sanctions against Cryptomus, a cryptocurrency platform that authorities say facilitates payments tied to ransomware, drug trafficking, fraud and other cybercrime activities that help Russia evade financial restrictions. On October 8, the U.K. sanctioned Cryptomus—also known by previous names including Certa Payments and Xeltox Enterprises—for processing payments benefiting the Russian government and its institutions. The sanctions freeze any Cryptomus assets held in U.K. banks and prohibit British companies from doing business with the platform. Three other virtual payment services, VexPay, TokenSpot, and Tsunami Payments, were also targeted.
Cryptomus has operated under multiple identities since 2022, most recently rebranding as Heleket after Canada imposed a CAD $176 million fine for anti-money laundering violations. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, Cryptomus and Heleket together received more illicit funds than cryptocurrency mixers in their dataset, with over 900 illicit counterparties using the services in late 2025. A separate 2026 analysis found Cryptomus had processed more than $7 billion in transactions since inception, including those linked to child exploitation, terrorist financing and human trafficking. Experts note the U.K. sanctions are significant because they represent enforcement action by a major nation, unlike the unenforced Canadian fine.
Source: Read the full story at Krebs on Security
This summary was written with AI assistance from the linked source.
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