The operators of the sanctioned crypto exchange Garantex have reportedly spun up a new trading platform, according to analytics firm Global Ledger. The new exchange, Grinex, is also allegedly operated out of Russia.
"Swiss blockchain analytics company Global Ledger has completed its investigation and gathered conclusive evidence that Grinex, the exchange that emerged shortly after the dramatic collapse of Garantex, is, in fact, a direct continuation of Garantex itself," the firm said in a report on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice collaborated with authorities in Germany and Finland to freeze several domains associated with Garantex, which reportedly processed over $96 billion worth of criminal proceeds since launching in 2019. Tether cooperated to freeze $23 million worth of funds connected to the firm.
Garantex was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April 2022 for enabling money laundering illicitly obtained from ransomware attacks and darknet markets. It was the third-largest crypto exchange sanctioned by the Treasury at the time.
Analytics firm Elliptic noted that the exchange transacted $60 billion worth of funds after being sanctioned.
U.S. authorities also indicted Garantex's principal operators Aleksej Besciokov and Aleksandr Mira Serda. Besciokov was taken into custody in India and faces extradition to the U.S. while Mira Serda remains at large.
According to Global Ledger, Garantex is moving its liquidity and customer deposits to Grinex. The new exchange appears to use the same infrastructure and is being promoted as a workaround to the sanctions. The new exchange has also incorporated a ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5, launched by Promsvyazbank’s cross-border payment platform A7.
Onchain data shows the exchange has already processed nearly $30 million worth of transactions. Between Feb. 8 and March 1, Garantex transferred several billion A7A5 stablecoin tokens on Tron to the new addresses associated with Grinex, according to onchain data.
"These findings highlight that Grinex is not an independent entity but rather a full-fledged successor to Garantex, continuing its financial operations despite the exchange's official shutdown," Global Ledger said.
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