Bybit Adds A7 Africa, A7 Nigeria, NoOnes, and Pilot Finance to Blacklist

TL;DR

• Bybit updated its Restricted Counterparty List to include over 100 entities, explicitly blacklisting A7 Africa, A7 Nigeria, NoOnes, and Nigerian payment provider PilotFinance Limited.
• A7 is a payments network established by sanctioned Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor that helped Russia move over $6.9 billion through front companies and African corridors.
• The move follows prior sanctions by the UK and EU, as well as Binance’s August 2026 decision to block transactions to 17 crypto platforms including A7 entities.

The Bybit Announcement

Bybit recently emailed users to say it had published an updated restricted counterparty list. Bybit informed users that they could not conduct, directly or indirectly, transactions with any of the parties on the list using their Bybit account. 

The list blacklists several crypto exchanges, payment processors, mixers, sanctioned groups, and liquidity providers. The updated list includes over a hundred entities, including A7 Africa, A7 Nigeria, the popular P2P platform NoOnes and Nigerian Payment Provider PilotFinance Limited.

It also includes entities like Hamas and the Lazarus Group, as well as entities tied to Russia and Iran. Bybit says the move is part of its “ongoing compliance obligations” and informs users that it will reject any transfers made to a restricted party and hold transfers users receive from any of those parties.

It also reserves the right, via its terms and conditions, to suspend or terminate accounts connected to these entities. 

Bybit informs users that the list is non-exhaustive and that it “may add restricted counterparties to the list at any time. It may also “restrict transfers involving a counterparty that is not yet on the list.”

The A7 and Pilot Finance Connection: A $6.9B Russian Shadow Network

This is not the first time A7 and related entities have appeared on restricted lists. In August 2026, Binance announced that it would stop processing transactions to 17 crypto platforms. The list included A7 Nigeria and A7 Africa.

A7 is a payments network established in late 2024 by a sanctioned Moldovan businessman, Ilan Shor. A Russian state-owned bank, Promsvyazbank, supported it. The Financial Times reports that Ilan Shor had previously described the network as “immune to sanctions.” 

In September 2025, A7 opened offices in Nigeria, Africa’s largest crypto market, and Zimbabwe. A report published by the Open Source Centre in June 2026 indicates that “the expansion was supported by finance ministries from both countries and the Russian Ministry of Finance.” Other reports indicate that the scale and scope of its financial operations in both Nigeria and Zimbabwe are unclear.

In a speech given by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum in Cairo in December 2025, he said, “Nigeria and Zimbabwe have already joined the platform. We invite all other African partners to follow their example.” ADF reports that A7 made attempts to set up a network in Togo and visited Madagascar. 

The Open Source Centre reports that high-ranking Russian officials attended the opening ceremony in Nigeria and Zimbabwe. The list includes the Russian deputy finance minister, the PSB deputy chairman, the deputy director of Russia’s financial policy department and the Russian ambassador to Zimbabwe.

PilotFinance COO, Tope Adewoye, was also in attendance, where he reportedly signed a partnership agreement with A7. Open Source’s report notes that an individual who self-identified as an advisor of A7 Nigeria and project manager of A7 LLC in Moscow appeared on the about page for Pilot Finance. 

In September 2026, the Financial Times reported that it had obtained “hundreds of thousands” of documents and files linked to A7. Its report indicated that the A7 network had helped Russia move over $6.9 billion. The report noted that some of the payments it helped facilitate were linked to military and war-related purchases.

In June 2026, the UK government imposed sanctions on Pilot Finance Limited, citing alleged ties to Russia’s sanction-evasion efforts. By July 2026, the EU sanctioned A7 Nigeria and A7 Africa. 

NoOnes Made the List

NoOnes, a P2P marketplace focused on the Global South, announced that it had surpassed 2.5 million users globally in May 2026. The platform had gained a significant user base across Nigeria and Africa. By August 2026, the company announced that it was shutting down operations and advised its users to withdraw their funds before the 23rd of August. 

The shutdown followed sanctions on NoOnes by the EU in July 2026. The sanctions, driven by heightened regulatory scrutiny over unmonitored P2P liquidity and AML non-compliance, cost the company partners and led to associated wallets being flagged as high-risk.

Why this Matters

After multiple crackdowns on crypto across the continent, African crypto traders increasingly relied on P2P routes. Recent reports by Chainalysis show that Nigeria and South Africa lead the world in P2P economic activity. The report also noted that P2P activity now accounts for an estimated 8.1% of total crypto activity. 

These sanctions indicate that foreign actors have begun exploiting these African liquidity channels to bypass global sanctions. As a result, global regulators are increasing scrutiny on crypto exchange compliance. Platforms like Bybit and Binance can no longer risk serving grey-market liquidity if they want to keep operations afloat. 

What This Means for Bybit Users

In its email to users, Bybit advised users with questions or concerns to reach out to its customer support team. In the meantime, it has advised users to review the restricted counterparty list and seek legal advice if they hold crypto with any of the names on the list. 

Users should also limit direct exposure by refusing to send or receive funds from accounts affiliated with A7, NoOnes, Pilot Finance, or any of the other names on the list using their Bybit accounts. 

Users should also stick to clean self-custody accounts or regulated local corridors and platforms to avoid losing access to their funds and account. Bybit says it reserves the right to take “appropriate action”, which may include “filing regulatory reports, liquidation of open positions”, and “cooperation with relevant regulatory and law enforcement agencies.”