Sanctioned Russian Crypto Exchange Garantex Persists via Successor Platforms and Offshore Networks, New Reports Reveal
Washington, D.C., September 25, 2025 — Despite multiple U.S. and international sanctions, the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex continues to operate covertly through successor platforms and a complex network of offshore financial services, according to recent investigations disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Transparency International Russia.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) first sanctioned Garantex in April 2022 for processing substantial volumes of cryptocurrency transactions linked to illicit activities, including ransomware payments and darknet market revenues. While initial enforcement actions—including domain seizures, freezing of assets totaling over $26 million, and indictments of key executives—temporarily disrupted operations, Garantex has circumvented these sanctions by transferring functions and client assets to a successor platform named Grinex, launched by former Garantex employees.
Scale and Scope of Illicit Transactions
Between April 2019 and March 2025, Garantex reportedly handled at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions. The Treasury’s expanding measures detail that over $100 million of this volume was tied directly to illicit cybercriminal activity, including ransomware-as-a-service schemes targeting global victims. Garantex’s infrastructure facilitated laundering operations for Russian elites and criminal syndicates, enabling rapid cross-border money movement despite international scrutiny.
Multinational Enforcement Efforts
In March 2025, a coordinated operation by the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and law enforcement agencies in Germany and Finland led to the seizure of Garantex’s primary domain and the arrest of one of its key leaders, Aleksej Besciokov, apprehended while vacationing in India shortly after the Department of Justice unsealed indictments. Other co-founders, including Aleksandr Mira Serda and Sergey Mendeleev, were designated and remain targets of arrest warrants backed by financial rewards totaling up to $6 million.
Adaptation and Resilience through Successor Entities
Undeterred by sanctions, Garantex’s operations have evolved. The successor exchange Grinex now continues much of the original platform’s activities, including use of the ruble-backed A7A5 token—designed to evade sanctions. Accompanying Grinex are entities such as Independent Decentralized Finance Smartbank and Exved, the latter a payments platform facilitating cryptocurrency-mediated trade primarily between Russia and other countries.
Offshore Networks and Decentralized Systems
Further complexity is added by offshore processing platforms like Exved and novel Telegram-based crypto exchanges such as MKAN Coin operating from Dubai. These entities mirror Garantex’s core functions and serve to obfuscate funds’ origin and destination, effectively creating a decentralized money laundering system that has so far evaded regulatory crackdowns.
The new report by Transparency International Russia (operating in exile) outlines how Garantex and its affiliates have embedded themselves within global cryptocurrency infrastructure, exploiting jurisdictional loopholes and leveraging decentralized finance mechanisms to sustain illicit financial flows.
International Response and Continuing Challenges
The U.S. Department of State has issued substantial rewards for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Garantex’s leadership, underscoring the international resolve against cybercriminal networks utilizing cryptocurrency. However, these reports reveal the persistent challenge regulators face in enforcing sanctions within the decentralized and borderless crypto ecosystem.
Experts warn that unless regulatory frameworks adapt to address offshore platforms and decentralized tokens like A7A5, sanctioned entities will continue to exploit emerging technologies to circumvent controls.
This continuing saga highlights the evolving intersection of cybersecurity, financial regulation, and international law enforcement where cryptocurrency exchanges such as Garantex demonstrate both the vulnerabilities and the complexities in combating illicit finance in the digital age.