WASHINGTON :The United States, Germany and Finland have taken down the online infrastructure used by the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday, adding that two administrators of the exchange were also charged.
The two administrators, Aleksej Besciokov and Aleksandr Mira Serda, are both charged with money laundering conspiracy. Besciokov, a Russian resident and Lithuanian national, faces additional charges of violating sanctions and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, the department said.
The exchange has processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019, the department said. “The U.S. Secret Service has seized website domains associated with the administration and operation of Russian cryptocurrency exchange, Garantex as part of an ongoing investigation,” Nate Herring, lead public affairs specialist at the U.S. Secret Service, said in an emailed statement on Friday, providing no additional comment.
Garantex was sanctioned by the U.S. in April 2022. The exchange on Thursday said the stablecoin Tether had blocked digital wallets on its platform, forcing it to suspend operations days after coming under EU sanctions.
Blockchain research company TRM Labs said in a blog post that the takedown of Garantex “marks a major milestone in the fight against illicit finance” but cautioned that sanctioned exchanges often attempt to evade restrictions by creating new entities.