The US Treasury has introduced sanctions towards Grinex, the successor to Russian cryptocurrency alternate Garantex.
A TRM Labs report launched in April revealed that Grinex has robust ties to earlier operations of Garantex, however has stopped offering proof that it’s getting used for unlawful transactions.
Grinex was promoted via a telegram channel linked to Garantex shortly after US authorities seized Garantex’s area in early March 2025, coping with $100 million value of unlawful transactions and Cybercriminal laundry cash. Two Garantex directors, Aleksandr Mira Serda and Aleksej Besciokov, had been later charged, and Besciokov was arrested a couple of days later whereas on trip in India.
Garantex was accredited by the Ministry of Finance’s Workplace of Overseas Property Management (OFAC) in April 2022 following its relationship with darknet markets and cybercrime teams, together with Hydra Darkish Internet Market, Natorious Ransomware-a-Service (RAAS) Operation, Black Basta, Lockbit, Netwalker, Netwalke, Phoenix, and Phoenix and chsenix and wsenix and westolocker.
“On March 6, 2025, shortly after the enforcement motion led by the US Secret Service, Garantex officers created an infrastructure that continues to offer essential providers to Garantex, and particularly transferred Garantex’s buyer deposit to Grinex,” OFAC stated Thursday.
“Grinex’s promotional materials states that the alternate was fashioned in response to the sanctions and belongings freezes that affected Garantex. Since its creation, Grinex has facilitated billions of {dollars} in cryptocurrency transactions.”
Yesterday, OFAC up to date sanctions towards Garantex, three co-founders (Sergey Mendeleev, Aleksandr Mira Serda and Pavel Karavatsky).
On Thursday, the State Division introduced compensation of as much as $6 million for data that would result in the arrest or conviction of a Garantex government.
“Washing funds and utilizing cryptocurrency exchanges to advertise ransomware assaults not solely threaten our nationwide safety, but in addition undermine the popularity of respectable digital asset service suppliers.” “By exposing these malicious actors, the Treasury is dedicated to and helps the integrity of the digital asset trade.”
The State Division stated Garantex processed greater than $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between April 2019 and March 2025.
