Key Takeaways:
- OFAC imposed a second round of sanctions on crypto exchange Garantex and its successor Grinex, citing over $100 million in illicit transactions since 2019.
- The sanctions target multiple individuals and entities, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Tron wallet addresses linked to Garantex operations.
- The DOJ unsealed indictments against Garantex executives, with one arrested in India and a $6 million reward offered for information on others.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued a second round of sanctions against cryptocurrency exchange Garantex Europe, re-listing it as a sanctioned entity.
OFAC also targeted Garantex’s alleged successor, Grinex, three executives, and six companies based in Russia and the Kyrgyz Republic, accusing them of facilitating over $100 million in illicit transactions since 2019.
Help us bring these Russian money launderers to justice! We are offering rewards totaling up to $6M for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of the leaders of Garantex, a Russian virtual currency exchange. https://t.co/mUQe8czT2t pic.twitter.com/i2xA9rS7bI
— US Dept of State INL (@StateINL) August 14, 2025
Under Secretary of the Treasury John Hurley said the U.S. will not tolerate the use of digital assets for cybercrime or sanctions evasion.
Garantex was first sanctioned in 2022 for ignoring Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT) rules, at which time authorities seized $26 million in crypto, shut down its website, and indicted two executives.
OFAC alleges Grinex was created to bypass these measures.
The new sanctions include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tron (TRX) wallet addresses.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed indictments in March against executives Aleksandr Mira Serda and Aleksej Besciokov.
Besciokov was arrested in India, while Serda remains at large.
A corrected arrest warrant was issued for Serda on August 6, with authorities offering up to $6 million for information leading to his capture or that of other Garantex executives.
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