The U.S. Division of the Treasury has introduced sanctions in opposition to Grinex, the successor to Russian cryptocurrency change Garantex, which was beforehand sanctioned for serving to ransomware gangs launder their cash.
A TRM Labs report, launched in April, revealed that Grinex has robust ties to Garantex’s earlier operations, however stopped wanting offering proof that it was getting used for illicit transactions.
Grinex was promoted on Telegram channels linked to Garantex quickly after U.S. authorities seized Garantex’s domains in early March 2025 for processing $100 million price of illicit transactions and laundering cash for cybercriminals. Two Garantex directors, Aleksandr Mira Serda and Aleksej Besciokov, have been later charged, with Besciokov being arrested days later whereas vacationing in India.
Garantex was sanctioned by the Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Belongings Management (OFAC) in April 2022, following its affiliation with darknet markets and cybercrime teams, together with the Hydra darkish internet market, the infamous Conti Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operation, and the Black Basta, LockBit, NetWalker, Ryuk, and Phoenix Cryptolocker ransomware gangs.
“Instantly following the March 6, 2025 legislation enforcement actions led by the U.S. Secret Service, Garantex officers created the infrastructure to proceed to supply key companies to Garantex, particularly transferring Garantex buyer deposits to Grinex,” OFAC stated on Thursday.
“Grinex’s promotional supplies state that the change was shaped in response to sanctions and asset freezes that affected Garantex. Since its creation, Grinex has facilitated the switch of billions of {dollars} in cryptocurrency transactions.”
Yesterday, OFAC has additionally renewed sanctions in opposition to Garantex, three of its co-founders (Sergey Mendeleev, Aleksandr Mira Serda, and Pavel Karavatsky), and 6 companion corporations in Russia and Kyrgyzstan, together with InDeFi Financial institution, Exved, Outdated Vector, A7, A71, and A7 Agent, for his or her alleged involvement with the 2 sanctioned crypto-exchanges.
On Thursday, the Division of State additionally introduced a reward of as much as $6 million for any info resulting in the arrests or convictions of Garantex executives.
“Exploiting cryptocurrency exchanges to launder cash and facilitate ransomware assaults not solely threatens our nationwide safety, but in addition tarnishes the reputations of legit digital asset service suppliers,” stated Beneath Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Monetary Intelligence John Ok. Hurley. “By exposing these malicious actors, Treasury stays dedicated to and supportive of the digital asset trade’s integrity.”
The Division of State stated that Garantex processed over $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between April 2019 and March 2025.
46% of environments had passwords cracked, practically doubling from 25% final yr.
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