- 11
- 0
US authorities have sanctioned Grinex, the successor to Garantex, a crypto exchange that was previously sanctioned for its alleged links to darknet marketplaces and money laundering activities. TRM Labs
researchers reported in the spring that Grinex was closely linked to Garantex’s former activities, although their report did not contain any actual evidence that the exchange was used for illicit transactions. Grinex began actively advertising on Garantex-related Telegram channels shortly after US authorities seized Garantex’s domains in March 2025 .
[td]“A few days after Garantex was closed, Telegram channels associated with the exchange began promoting Grinex, a platform with a virtually identical interface, registered in Kyrgyzstan in December 2024,” TRM Labs noted.[/td]The fact is that back in 2022, the US authorities said they had linked Garantex transactions (worth over $100 million) to money laundering for cybercriminals, darknet marketplaces, and hackers, including the Conti ransomware group and the Hydra marketplace. Back then, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the exchange.
In addition, in the spring of this year, two Garantex administrators, Aleksandr Mira Serda and Lithuanian citizen Aleksej Besciokov, were charged. A few days later, Besciokov was arrested in India , where he was on vacation.
As OFAC officials now report , sanctions were extended last week against Garantex and its three co-founders — Sergey Mendeleyev, the aforementioned Aleksandr Mira Serda, and Pavel Karavatsky. Sanctions were also imposed on Grinex and six exchange-related companies in Russia and Kyrgyzstan, including InDeFi Bank, Exved, Old Vector, A7, A71, and A7 Agent.
[td]“Immediately following the March 6, 2025, law enforcement action, conducted under the direction of the U.S. Secret Service, Garantex executives established the infrastructure to continue providing key services, specifically the transfer of Garantex customer deposits to Grinex,” OFAC said in a statement. “Grinex’s promotional materials indicate that the exchange was created in response to the sanctions and asset freezes that affected Garantex. Since its inception, Grinex has processed billions of dollars in cryptocurrency transactions.”[/td]Following the release of this statement, the U.S. State Department separately announced a reward of up to $6 million for any information leading to the arrest or conviction of the executives of Garantex.
According to the State Department, Garantex processed more than $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between April 2019 and March 2025.
[td]“The use of cryptocurrency exchanges to launder money and facilitate ransomware attacks not only threatens our national security, it also undermines the reputation of legitimate virtual asset service providers,” said John K. Hurley, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “By exposing these bad actors, the Treasury Department continues to support the integrity of the digital asset industry.”[/td]
researchers reported in the spring that Grinex was closely linked to Garantex’s former activities, although their report did not contain any actual evidence that the exchange was used for illicit transactions. Grinex began actively advertising on Garantex-related Telegram channels shortly after US authorities seized Garantex’s domains in March 2025 .
In addition, in the spring of this year, two Garantex administrators, Aleksandr Mira Serda and Lithuanian citizen Aleksej Besciokov, were charged. A few days later, Besciokov was arrested in India , where he was on vacation.
As OFAC officials now report , sanctions were extended last week against Garantex and its three co-founders — Sergey Mendeleyev, the aforementioned Aleksandr Mira Serda, and Pavel Karavatsky. Sanctions were also imposed on Grinex and six exchange-related companies in Russia and Kyrgyzstan, including InDeFi Bank, Exved, Old Vector, A7, A71, and A7 Agent.
According to the State Department, Garantex processed more than $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between April 2019 and March 2025.