Successors of Garantex: from exchange to messenger

“Transparency International - Russia publishes an investigation into how Garantex’s successors retained the core of the ecosystem after sanctions and moved to a distributed architecture under new names - primarily Exved and Grinex. We show that roles, wallet clusters and transfer routes are preserved, and only the signage and shell are changed .

Why is this important? Because such a network disguises crypto-transactions as ruble “agent” payments, transfers settlements to offshore links and builds an operating system in Telegram - this simultaneously facilitates the withdrawal of capital and undermines export controls, including the supply of dual-use goods (microelectronics and telecom equipment). In a separate loop, we record stablecoin turnover worth billions of dollars; within a few months, the volume of transactions reached $9.3 billion .

“Every time regulators cut off one “head” of this cryptohydra, a new one appears in its place, under a different name. Our findings show: Garantex has not disappeared; it has been rebuilt into a distributed system that hides crypto operations behind agency agreements, offshore links and processes built in Telegram,” emphasizes the author of the investigation , Kristine Bagdasaryan .

The material reveals the key links of this architecture and its geography, including Russia and foreign jurisdictions, and also shows the “bridges” between Garantex’s successors. Individual episodes point to the European footprints of the defendants and compliance vulnerabilities, which allow the network to remain “under the radar” for a long time.

“This architecture doesn’t just facilitate the exit of capital; it undermines export controls by quietly financing dual-use goods,” Baghdasaryan adds. “We call for a transition from targeted measures against signs to supervision based on standard models and to act in a coordinated and quick manner.”

After each cleanup, a new “head” appears - and this will continue as long as the measures remain targeted. We call for a move to a systemic regime: EU/UK/US interagency coordination, labeling of “agent” traces in payments and priority monitoring of wallet clusters associated with Garantex successors.

A complete analysis of the situation with Garantex is on our website.