The European Union voted to exclude seven Russian banks from SWIFT, the messaging network underpinning global financial transactions.

"It shall be prohibited as of 12 March 2022 to provide specialised financial messaging services, which are used to exchange financial data," to the specified banks, the bloc said in its official journal.The seven banks are: VTB, VEB, Otkritie FC, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank and Sovcombank.A senior EU official said Wednesday that the European Commission is checking the extent to which crypto is being to evade sanctions imposed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, according to a report by Reuters.Trading volume between the ruble and bitcoin increased to a nine-month high on Monday following a plunge the Russian currency. Similar trends were observed between the ruble and the world's largest stablecoin, tether.Much of the trading activity was concentrated on Binance, Clara Medalie, an analyst for crypto research provider Kaiko, told CoinDesk.Binance has resisted calls to freeze accounts of all users in Russia as it does not wish to punish innocent people. "To unilaterally decide to ban people's access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists," the exchange said Monday.It added however that it is taking action against individuals who have had sanctions levied against them.

Read more: At Least $14M Out of $26M in Donated Crypto to Ukraine Already Disbursed

UPDATE (March 2, 12:09 UTC): Adds banks' names in first bullet point, background on ruble-bitcoin trading, Binance.

UPDATE (March 2, 12:17 UTC): Adds wording of resolution in first bullet.