Garantex
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anchored·5Y9Drm…aN5HSummary
Garantex was a Russia-based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2019 and formally registered in Estonia, that U.S. authorities allege processed more than $96 billion in transactions before it was seized in a March 2025 multinational law enforcement operation. The exchange and its operators have been sanctioned by the United States (2022 and 2025), the European Union (2025), and Japan (2026) for allegedly facilitating ransomware payments, darknet market proceeds, and sanctions evasion, and its founders are alleged to have migrated customers and funds to a successor platform, Grinex, within days of the shutdown.
Connected Entities
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Timeline(10 events)
April 2019
Garantex begins operating as a cryptocurrency exchange, registered in Estonia with operations run from Moscow and St. Petersburg.
U.S. Department of the TreasuryFebruary 2022
Estonia's Financial Intelligence Unit revokes Garantex's operating license after finding anti-money-laundering deficiencies and links to criminal wallets; Garantex allegedly continues operating regardless.
U.S. Department of the Treasury5 April 2022
OFAC sanctions Garantex and the Hydra darknet market under Executive Order 14024.
U.S. Department of the Treasury press releaseDecember 2024
Grinex, later alleged to be Garantex's successor, is incorporated in Kyrgyzstan, months before Garantex's seizure.
TRM Labs24 February 2025
The European Union sanctions Garantex for the first time as part of its 16th Russia sanctions package.
ICIJ / Council of the EUMarch 2025
A multinational law enforcement coalition seizes Garantex's domain names and servers, freezing more than $26 million in cryptocurrency.
CoinDesk / U.S. Department of JusticeMarch 2025
DOJ publicly announces the Garantex takedown and unseals criminal money-laundering charges against Aleksej Besciokov and Aleksandr Mira Serda.
U.S. Department of JusticeMarch 2025
Grinex launches as an alleged successor exchange within days of Garantex's shutdown, allegedly replicating its interface and absorbing former customers and funds.
CoinDesk, citing Global Ledger14 August 2025
OFAC re-designates Garantex Europe OU and separately sanctions successor exchange Grinex, three named executives, and several associated entities including A7 LLC and Old Vector.
U.S. Department of the Treasury press releaseOctober 2026
Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs adds Garantex to an asset-freeze list covering 33 entities, 9 individuals, and 35 vessels linked to Russia.
Cryptobriefing / crypto.newsDecision Log
- hash: 2GeWPTQZTULpCkKajCN8GxcbuHKDukoxdfcJ5Y9wvjMR
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 0 of 14 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 10/4/2026, 8:07:59 PM
last updated: 10/4/2026, 8:08:07 PM
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