A suspected state-linked cyberattack that drained roughly 1 billion rubles (about $13 million) has forced sanctioned Russian crypto exchange Grinex to halt trading and withdrawals — and ultimately to shut down entirely, severing a major ruble-to-crypto channel used to skirt Western sanctions. What happened Grinex said the breach targeted its core wallet infrastructure, wiping more than 1 billion rubles and prompting an immediate suspension of services before the platform announced it would cease operations. In a Telegram post the exchange suggested the attackers showed “signs of involvement from foreign intelligence agencies,” arguing the resources and tools used were “beyond typical hackers” and part of wider pressure on Russia’s financial system. Why it matters Grinex was set up by former employees of Garantex after U.S. authorities and partners sanctioned Garantex for processing more than $100 million in ransomware and other illicit proceeds. In August 2025 the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Grinex and a ruble-backed token called A7A5, calling Grinex “another cryptocurrency exchange created by Garantex employees to support the company’s sanctions evasion efforts.” Chainalysis has tracked the network and said the August 2025 designations were part of “a multi‑year effort to dismantle a sanctions‑evasion infrastructure” that laundered ransomware proceeds, darknet market revenues and other illicit funds dating back to at least 2019. Impact on sanctions evasion Industry observers now say Grinex’s collapse could be more damaging than the hack itself because it removes one of the last sizeable trading venues Russian entities used to convert rubles into stablecoins and other liquid crypto assets that could be cashed out abroad. One sanctions researcher told DL News the shutdown would “seriously damage” the shadow infrastructure that helped Russia dodge Western restrictions, making it harder for companies to import goods, pay contractors and move capital out of the country. Bigger context The shutdown comes against a backdrop of economic strain in Russia: President Vladimir Putin recently acknowledged a 1.8% year‑on‑year GDP drop for January–February and warned that maritime oil exports could fall to their lowest level since 2023 — tightening the squeeze on hard-currency inflows that exchanges like Grinex helped channel. What this shows As previous reporting has noted, tokenized rails and offshore exchanges can be repurposed for sanctions evasion — but they are vulnerable to both geopolitical pressure and cyber‑intrusion. The fall of Grinex underscores how quickly those opaque advantages can evaporate, removing critical plumbing for illicit cross‑border flows and tightening enforcement levers against sanctioned networks. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news