Bishkek demands review of sanctions against banks and crypto companies
Date: 2025-08-22 Author: Henry Casey Categories: IN WORLD
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov addressed the leaders of the United States and Great Britain after both countries introduced restrictions on Kyrgyz banks and cryptocurrency structures. According to the head of state, the decisions on sanctions were made hastily and without real evidence of violations, which creates risks for the republic's economy.
Japarov emphasized that he personally appealed to US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with a request to review these steps. "There is no reason to transfer political differences to the economic sphere," he said in an interview with the Kabar agency.
The UK has recently added Kyrgyzstan's Kapital Bank, the Grinex exchange, and the Bishkek-based Old Vector to the sanctions list, which London claims are involved in the release of the ruble stablecoin A7A5 and help circumvent restrictions against Russia. In total, the new list includes eight items — three individuals and five organizations.
A few days earlier, on August 14, the US announced similar measures, adding Grinex and Old Vector to the sanctions list. Washington accused them of participating in illegal cryptocurrency activities and helping to circumvent international restrictions. Earlier this year, the US authorities already blacklisted Kyrgyzstan's Keremet Bank.
Japarov also said that the Kyrgyz delegation traveled to the US for talks with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). According to him, the American side did not provide facts confirming the circumvention of sanctions and refused to conduct an independent audit of the banks.
According to the US Treasury, Grinex is associated with the Garantex platform, against which sanctions were imposed back in March 2025. At that time, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, Tether, froze the exchange's assets in the amount of 2.5 billion rubles as part of an international special operation with the participation of the US Secret Service and European law enforcement agencies.
In July, TRM Labs analysts suggested that Grinex could be a continuation of Garantex, as they identified similarities in the transactions and technical infrastructure of both platforms. TRM Labs representative Isabella Chase said in an interview with Decrypt that the new UK sanctions will seriously complicate the activities of companies that have long been suspected of bypassing restrictions.
Meanwhile, TRM Labs itself announced the launch of a new Beacon Network system on August 21. This project unites crypto exchanges and international law enforcement agencies, allowing suspicious addresses to be marked in real time and assets associated with them to be blocked.
Thus, pressure on the cryptocurrency sector of Kyrgyzstan is increasing simultaneously from the American and British sides, while Bishkek demands objectivity and transparency in assessing the activities of its companies.
