Sanctioned Russian crypto exchange Garantex resurfaces as Grinex: report

Guarantx, an exchange of Russian crypto sanctioned by the United States, would be back in business under a new name, Grinene, after having moved funds and users on the platform.

A report From the Swiss Blockchain Global Ledger analysis company claims that Guarantx has moved liquidity and customer sales to Grinene. The report cited chain and out -of -chain evidence connecting the two exchanges despite the official closure of Garantex.

Global Ledger noted that Guarantx had whitened more than $ 60 million in stablescoins supported by the ruble, A7A5, thanks to a burning process and recalling to erase the transaction stories. These funds were then channeled to Grinex, allowing the new platform to operate with clean recordings.

In particular, Grinex began to receive large transaction volumes shortly after Garantinex was offline, incoming transfers exceeding $ 29 million by mid-March. In addition, blockchain data showed systematic fund movements via single -use portfolios before settling in Grinene’s deposit addresses.

In addition, some users would have confirmed that funds previously blocked on Garantinex were presented in their Grinex accounts. Meanwhile, Grinene staff also admitted to private conversations that customers physically visited the Garantex office to move funds between the two platforms.

Beyond the financial trail, Global Ledger underlined several other indicators connecting Grinex to Garantex.

Alert to Grinene’s website resembles the Guarantx interface, and promotional documents suggest that the founders of Garantors have created it in response to sanctions.

The report also quoted Coinmarketrating, a Russian cryptocurrency platform, which lists Grinene as being founded by the same team behind Guarantx.

Guarantx was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2022 for allegedly facilitated illegal transactions. The European Union later imposed his own sanctions February 24, 2025.

Despite the repression, he continued to operate, by treating funds through Russian banks sanctioned to serve local users.

The exchange officially closed on March 6, just days after the implementation frozen nearly 2.5 billion USDT In the stablescoins supported by the ruble.

A week later, the Indian authorities decree The co-founder of Guarantx, Aleksej Bešciokov, who is now awaiting extradition.