Global Ledger: The Garantex team launches a new exchange after USDT wallets were blocked for 2,5 billion RUB

What’s new? The team at blockchain analytics platform Global Ledger has warned that the founders of sanctioned Russian crypto exchange Garantex have launched a new platform. The new exchange operates under the name Grinex.

Source: X.com

What else is known? The US authorities imposed sanctions against Garantex in April 2022, the reason was the processing of transfers worth over $100 million from hacker groups. Already after the introduction of sanctions, the exchange conducted transactions in USDT stablecoins for $20 billion, which again attracted the attention of regulators.

In early March 2025, USDT issuer Tether blocked Garantex wallets that held USDT worth more than 2,5 billion Russian rubles (RUB), causing the exchange to suspend operations, including the withdrawal function.

Before the suspension, many crypto exchanges and P2P exchanges also blocked Garantex-related transactions. For example, OKX, one of the largest crypto exchanges, began blocking user accounts for making deposits with Garantex or withdrawals to accounts on the platform last August.

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According to Global Ledger analysts, after the termination of Garantex, the team conducted a number of operations with the platform’s assets. For example, user balances were transferred to the new Grinex platform. Some users who lost funds on Garantex reported receiving refunds on Grinex.

BeInCrypto’s sources also claim that Grinex customers are visiting the Garantex office in person, and many users are transferring assets to the new exchange.

In addition, ruble-denominated stablecoins under the A7A5 ticker from Old Vector have been withdrawn, reissued, and moved to Grinex-linked wallets. A7A5 was listed on Garantex less than a month before the exchange closed.

Global Ledger concluded that Garantex and Grinex were connected based on tracking asset movements, but other facts also speak in favor of this version.

For example, the Grinex team openly states that the platform was created in response to sanctions and freezing of funds, and its user interface is very similar to that of Garantex.

In this regard, the Global Ledger platform marks all transactions related to Grinex as dangerous due to potential sanctions evasion.