The defunct cryptocurrency exchange Garantex has returned under a different name, despite facing severe accusations of money laundering.
Garantex, which had its initial headquarters in Russia, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2022 after it was connected to aiding in the laundering of illegal funds.
Garantex’s Starts Operating Under New Name
Authorities are targeting the exchange because it allegedly assisted in processing transactions linked to ransomware organizations.
Unexpectedly, Garantex changed its identity and launched under a new one in order to evade regulatory inspection and keep providing its services.
Experts in the cryptocurrency sector have expressed alarm over this comeback, cautioning that the new organization may still be engaged in illicit activity.
The resurgence of these platforms underscores the continued difficulties in policing the Bitcoin industry and preventing its use for illicit activities as investigators step up their probes.
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Garantex’s Money Transfers
Garantex is transferring its customer deposits and liquidity to Grinex, according to Global Ledger. The new exchange, which is being marketed as a way around the sanctions, seems to make use of the same infrastructure.
Additionally, Promsvyazbank’s cross-border payment network A7 has introduced a stablecoin A7A5, which is backed by the ruble, on the new market.
The exchange has already handled transactions totaling close to $30 million, according to onchain data.
Onchain data shows that between February 8 and March 1, Garantex moved several billion A7A5 stablecoin tokens on Tron to the new addresses linked to Grinex.
Why Was Garantex Sanctioned?
In April 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex for its role in enabling money laundering and other illegal acts.
The exchange was a major participant in the worldwide illicit financial ecosystem after it was accused of handling transactions for ransomware organizations, cybercriminals, and sanctioned companies.
According to reports, Garantex enabled users to swap substantial amounts of Bitcoin associated with illegal activities, such as money obtained through ransomware attacks, which need cryptocurrency payments in order to recover stolen data.
Concerns were heightened by the exchange’s disregard for regulators and its refusal to put in place appropriate anti-money laundering (AML) procedures.
Garantex was added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which effectively frozen all assets under U.S. jurisdiction and barred U.S. individuals from using the platform for business purposes. This penalty demonstrates how regulators are increasingly focusing on bitcoin exchanges that do not stop illicit behavior.
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