U.S. Authorities Take Down Russian Crypto Exchange — WSJ

By Angus BerwickU.S. and European authorities shut down Garantex, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange that they said had processed almost $100 billion in transactions, a significant portion of which was for criminal and terrorist groups.Garantex had become a vital conduit for Russians to move money into and out of the country, despite Western efforts to cut off Russia's financial system. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Garantex in 2022, but its business continued to thrive, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.The Moscow-based exchange's customers ranged from oligarch fixers and weapons importers to ransomware gangs and drug trafficking rings.The Justice Department said that, in coordination with authorities in Germany and Finland, it had taken down Garantex's websites and seized its servers. One of the exchange's websites now displays a notice saying it had been seized by the U.S. Secret Service.The take-down came as President Trump said he was "strongly considering" imposing far-reaching sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a peace agreement is reached in the war in Ukraine.More than $60 billion of the crypto transactions processed by Garantex took place since it was sanctioned, according to crypto research firm Elliptic, which supported the U.S. authorities' investigation. Elliptic said most of the transactions took place in the stablecoin tether, which has become a favored tool for criminals to launder illicit proceeds. Tether has previously denied it aids criminal actors.Garantex said in a message to clients Thursday that tether's issuer, Tether Holdings, had blocked its wallets, forcing it to suspend its services. "Tether entered the war against the Russian crypto market," Garantex said.The Justice Department thanked Tether for its assistance.This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).