The U.S. Secret Service, partnering with a network of international law enforcement agencies, has successfully shut down the website of Garantex, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange linked to illicit activities on the darknet. This operation was executed under a warrant issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, resulting in a notice on Garantex’s site indicating that its domain has been seized.
This move aligns with previous sanctions imposed on Garantex by the European Union last month, which labelled the exchange as being closely tied to prohibited Russian banks, amid ongoing sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, in 2022, the U.S. Treasury had sanctioned Garantex, alleging that over $100 million in transactions were connected to illegal actors, including the notorious ransomware group Conti and the darknet marketplace Hydra.
Nate Herring, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, confirmed the seizure, noting that it is part of an ongoing investigation, though he refrained from offering additional details. The operation involved coordination with multiple agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, Europol, and various national police organisations from Europe.
TechCrunch confirmed the seizure through an analysis of Garantex’s domain records, which now direct to servers controlled by the Secret Service—typical for past law enforcement seizure actions.
In the aftermath, Garantex has not addressed the operation through its official channels, but it did announce the suspension of all services, including cryptocurrency withdrawals. This suspension coincided with Tether’s decision to freeze $28 million in assets on the exchange. Garantex acknowledged difficulties in its Telegram communications, stating, “We have bad news. We are fighting and will not give up! Please note that all [Tether] in Russian wallets is currently under threat.”
As this situation unfolds, Garantex appears to be grappling with the implications of international legal actions against its operations, while various government agencies maintain their stance on cracking down on cryptocurrency platforms tied to criminal activities.
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