The U.S. Secret Service has seized the official website of Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. This decision comes after Tether froze $27 million on the platform. The project team has now published a list of blocked wallets.
Garantex Accused of Darknet Ties
Now, when users visit garantex․org, they see a domain seizure notice. The operation was conducted as part of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in coordination with international law enforcement agencies.
Garantex has already been under U.S. sanctions since 2022. At the time, the U.S. Treasury Department alleged that the platform had processed over $100 million in suspicious transactions linked to cybercriminals, including the Russian hacker group Conti and the darknet marketplace Hydra.
In February 2024, the European Union also imposed sanctions on Garantex, claiming that the exchange was cooperating with Russian banks under EU restrictions.
International Law Enforcement Coordination
According to TechCrunch, the domain seizure involved:
- U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Europol
- Dutch National Police
- German Federal Criminal Police (BKA)
- Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office
- National Bureau of Investigation Finland
- Estonian National Criminal Police
U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring confirmed the domain seizure but declined to disclose further details.
Garantex Halts Operations After Tether Blockade
The exchange has not made an official statement about the domain confiscation but announced via its Telegram channel that it is suspending all services, including withdrawals.
Earlier, Tether, the issuer of USDT, had blocked $27 million in Garantex wallets. In response, the exchange warned users:
"We have bad news. We are fighting and not giving up! Please note that all [Tether] in Russian wallets is now at risk."
The exchange has yet to comment on its future or possible solutions, but it published a list of blocked Tether wallets. According to the document, the frozen accounts held between 57.80 and 3.25 million USDT, with one address having a zero balance. The full list of affected wallets is available here.
Can Clients Recover Their Funds?
Experts say the chances of users recovering their funds are slim, as Tether controls the assets.
One possible solution could be a compensation scheme similar to Bybit, which recently suffered a major hacker attack. In February 2024, Bybit was hacked for $1.5 billion. The hackers laundered the stolen funds, but rapid intervention by the team helped mitigate the damage.
This post is for informational purposes only and is not an ad or investment advice. Please do your own research making any decisions.