Grinex suspends trading after multi-million dollar hack
Grinex, a Kyrgyzstan-based cryptocurrency exchange operating under US, UK and EU sanctions, has halted trading following a hack that the platform variously pegged at between $13 million and $15 million across public statements. The exchange attributed the attack to what it called "foreign special services" and "hostile states" — language its officials used to implicate Western intelligence agencies without providing technical evidence.
The exchange is the rebranded successor to Garantex, the Russia-linked platform that US authorities sanctioned and effectively dismantled for facilitating sanctions evasion and laundering proceeds for Russia-linked hacking groups. According to Elliptic, liquidity and users from Garantex flowed into Grinex in the period following Garantex's closure, making Grinex the functional continuation of that network.
US authorities have separately accused Grinex of assisting Russia and other entities in circumventing international sanctions. The platform's sanctioned status means that any counterparties transacting with it — including users seeking to recover funds — face potential exposure under US, UK and EU sanctions regimes.
The suspension leaves an unresolved question over user funds at a platform that operated outside mainstream compliance frameworks by design. Given the discrepancy in the hack figures cited across the exchange's own communications, the precise scale of losses remains unconfirmed.
