Tether, which produces USDT stablecoin, blocked the wallets of the GaratEx Russian cryptocurrency book in the amount of more than 2.5 billion rubles

The Russian Crypto-Ride GaratEx, which is under sanctions and suspected of helping restrictions, suspended its activities due to blocking the Platform wallets by Tether, which produces the USDT stablecoin. According to the official Telegram channel GaratEx, Tether blocked the exchanges of the exchange of over 2.5 billion rubles in the framework of the War against the Russian Crypton. The platform administration warned that all USDT tokens on Russian wallets are in jeopardy, noting that GaratEx may have become the first, but not the last object of such measures.

Blocking wallets occurred in the context of tightening sanctions pressure on the Russian financial sector. On February 24, the European Union included GaratEx in a new package of sanctions, justifying this with close ties of the exchange with Russian banks from the EU sanctions list-in particular, the possibility of entering and withdrawing funds through Sberbank, T-Bank and Alfa-Bank. The US Department of Finance Control (OFAC) of the US Department of Finance included GaratEx on the sanctions list in April 2022.

Earlier, GaratEx communications director Evgenia Burova claimed that EU sanctions would not affect the work of the platform, since the company has already adapted to more strict American restrictions in two and a half years. However, recently the US authorities and the UK initiated an investigation into cryptocurrency transfers in the USDT through the Russian Exchange in the amount of more than $ 20 billion in the framework of the efforts to prevent circulation of sanctions against Russia.

Stablecoin USDT is the most popular cryptocurrency among Russians, according to the exchange itself. The volumes of trading in the pair of “ruble - USDT” significantly exceeded the indicators for other cryptocurrency pairs on the Garantex platform. On the official website of the exchange, the reason for the suspension of work is called “Technical Work”, but there is a more detailed explanation in the Telegram channel.