Global law enforcement agencies joined the U.S. Secret Service to take control of Garantex - the Russian cryptocurrency exchange website. The website seizure occurred after the U.S. Attorney's Office issued a legal warrant for the Eastern District of Virginia. A web notice on Garantex's domain announces its website shutdown for an active law enforcement investigation. The exchange faces ongoing legal pressure through this most recent seizure, representing a series of actions against a platform accused of criminal activities.
Many international government agencies participated in conducting the takedown operation, including the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI agents, Europol members, and European law enforcement agencies. Multiple police organizations including the Dutch National Police and the German Federal Criminal Police Office and other authorities collaborated in the collective operation. Nate Herring from the U.S. Secret Service confirmed that the seizure belongs to an ongoing investigation. The notice posted on the Garantex site demonstrated that authorities had united to investigate the broad reach of the operation and its participating organizations.
Criminal investigations show that Garantex processed more than $100 million through criminal operations that involved darknet markets and ransomware attacks according to authorities. The exchange is a gateway for the Conti Russian ransomware group and its business dealings with Hydra darknet marketplace. A seizure occurred after the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions against Garantex because of its illegal activities in 2022.
After the law enforcement operation, Garantex halted its entire service operation, including cryptocurrency withdrawals. Tether followed up its decision to block $28 million of cryptocurrency by suspending all services on the platform. Through its Telegram platform, Garantex announced the suspended services, which warned all users that Tether in Russian accounts was at risk. The exchange included no information or official response regarding the seizure.
Garantex failed to issue official remarks regarding the service interruption through its available communication platforms. The platform's frozen assets highlight the problematic situation of exchanges in the global cryptocurrency sector.
This operation represents a more extensive worldwide campaign to fight Russian organizations acting illegally within the cryptocurrency space. The European Union implemented sanctions against Garantex due to its bank partnerships with Russian institutions which have received previous blacklisting.
These sanctions formed a part of extensive international measures which targeted Russia because of its involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. The persistent operation of Garantex attracts central international oversight because authorities signal the forthcoming action against comparable platforms that conduct unlawful operations.
The domain seizure of Garantex coupled with the termination of its platform represents an essential milestone in worldwide crypto crime suppression efforts. Law enforcement keeps watching organizations that enable illegal deals, especially those connected to ransomware attacks and the darknet marketplace.