Despite Sanctions And Arrests, Russia’s Garantex Remerges As Grinex

A latest report from Swiss blockchain analytics agency World Ledger revealed that the sanctioned Russian crypto trade Garantex has resurfaced beneath the identify Grinex.

“After the Garantex website was taken down and its wallets were frozen, the sanctioned exchange provides access to crypto services through an alternative platform, Grinex,” stated World Ledger.

By mid-March, Grinex had already obtained over $29 million.

Compliance alert: #Garantex founders launch a brand new platform

1/ Following Garantex’s shutdown and #Tether freezing its wallets, the founders have launched Grinex. Right here’s what we’ve uncovered pic.twitter.com/m28einnisn

— World Ledger (@GlobalLedger) March 19, 2025

Garantex has been implicated in laundering over $96 billion in illicit funds. The agency confronted coordinated enforcement actions from the US and the European Union (EU). In reality, simply final week, Indian authorities arrested the founding father of Garantex, Aleksej Besciokov, within the South Indian state of Kerala.

On America’s request, Besciokov has been arrested for facilitating cash laundering by transnational legal organizations, together with terrorist organizations, and sanctions violations.

Discover: India Arrests US DoJ Indicted Russian Crypto Alternate Garantex Administrator

Garantex And Grinex Are Instantly Linked, Each On-Chain And Off-Chain

The Swiss analytics agency stated that it will probably confidently conclude that Grinex and Garantex are instantly linked each on-chain and off-chain.

Grinex has reportedly inherited a lot of Garantex’s consumer base and monetary operations.

Swiss blockchain analytics companies have uncovered that over $60 million price of ruble-backed stablecoins (A7A5) had been laundered and funneled into Grinex throughout its transition.

“The movement of funds, including the systematic transfer of A7A5 liquidity, the use of one-time-use wallets, and the involvement of addresses previously associated with Garantex, provides clear on-chain proof of their link,” World Ledger stated. “Additionally, off-chain indicators, such as transactional patterns, commentaries and exchange behaviours, further reinforce this connection.”

Superior crypto laundering strategies—resembling burning and minting mechanisms—had been employed to make new stablecoins seem “clean,” permitting the platform to evade detection.

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Enforcement Actions Confronted By Garantex

Garantex has been on the radar of worldwide regulatory authorities for a while. The trade was blacklisted by the US Treasury’s Workplace of Overseas Asunits Management (OFAC) in April 2022.

In latest enforcement actions, authorities froze $28 million in belongings tied to Garantex and seized its domains.

Stablecoin issuer Tether additionally stepped in to freeze $27 million price of funds, disrupting withdrawal companies for customers.

Despite these efforts, Garantex managed to rebrand itself as Grinex, transferring liquidity and buyer funds to the brand new platform.

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Key Takeaways

The Swiss analytics agency stated that it will probably confidently conclude that Grinex and Garantex are instantly linked each on-chain and off-chain.