Has Garantex-linked Grinex dodged sanctions to move $6 billion?

A Kyrgyzstan-based crypto exchange with alleged ties to Russian trading platform Garantex appears to have found a way around US sanctions and moved billions in funds since it was blacklisted in August earlier this year.

According to research by The Financial Times (FT), almost 34 billion A7A5 stablecoins worth over $400 million were destroyed and “recreated” to obscure their links to Grinex, the alleged Garantex successor which was added to the United States’ sanctions list in August.

For its part, Grinex denies all links to Garantex.

A7A5 is a key component of the A7 payments system, created by Moscow as an alternative to the US-led system that had sanctioned Russian users following the invasion of Ukraine.

As detailed by FT analysts, the balances in two Grinex-linked wallets were “set to zero” via the “destroyBlackFunds” prompt that classifies the tokens as “dirtyShares.”

However, shortly after these tokens were deleted, new tokens — worth exactly the same — appeared in a fresh wallet.

The FT also revealed that the wallet in question — TNpJj — was involved in $6.1 billion worth of transactions since Grinex was sanctioned.

Read more: Garantex says ‘USDT in Russian wallets under threat’ as Tether freezes $27M

The name’s changed but the hours are the same

The FT has also uncovered startling similarities between Grinex and its wallets and Garantex.

For starters, the new wallet has shared 11 counterparties and does most of its transfers during Moscow working hours. This is incredibly similar to the activity observed on its predecessors.

Customer service is also offered “weekdays from 10am to 8pm Moscow time” and Grinex’s OTC division is to be found at the same address once used by Garantex.

A7A5 is registered in Kyrgyzstan — designated by Moscow as “friendly.”

Last week, Russia granted A7A5 formal digital financial asset status, allowing exporters and importers to use it via Promsvyazbank, a platform that backs each token with a rouble.