BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, August 15. The United States Treasury has imposed sanctions on Kyrgyz crypto exchange Grinex, citing its creation by former employees of the Russian exchange Garantex to circumvent existing financial restrictions, Trend reports via the US Department of Treasury.
Garantex, accused since 2022 of servicing darknet markets and hacker groups, had its website shut down and $26 million frozen by US and European authorities in March 2025. Following the closure, many clients were transferred to Grinex.
The sanctions also target companies involved in the development of the ruble stablecoin A7A5, which US officials claim was used to bypass financial sanctions. Additional projects on the blacklist include InDeFi Bank and Exved, along with Garantex executives Sergey Mendeleev, Alexander Mira Serda, and Pavel Karavatsky.
The US State Department has announced rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Alexander Mira Serda, and up to $1 million for tips on other key Garantex figures.