Russia-sanctioned exchange Garantex quietly restarts, crypto payment networks once again bypassing international sanctions

Blockchain analytics company Global Ledger’s latest investigation shows that the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, which was sanctioned by the West, is resuming operations and continues to process funds through hidden payment architectures. Despite its servers being previously seized and its business being targeted by the international community, on-chain evidence indicates that the platform has quietly restarted recently and has transferred tens of millions of dollars in assets to users.

The investigation found that researchers tracked multiple new wallets linked to Garantex on the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, holding a total of over $34 million in cryptocurrency, of which at least $25 million has been paid to former users. The flow of funds also exposes its methods of evading monitoring: Garantex uses mixing tools like Tornado Cash to obfuscate reserves, then jumps across networks via cross-chain bridges on Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, and others, eventually consolidating into an aggregation wallet before transferring out to multiple payment accounts.

Notably, over 88% of Ethereum reserves remain untouched, indicating that current fund disbursements are only in the initial stage. The investigation also shows that the exchange’s operational model appears to have adapted to the digital asset financial system gradually established in Russia over the past two years.

Since 2024, Russia’s attitude toward cryptocurrencies has undergone a significant shift. The central bank, originally opposed to digital assets, now incorporates them as trade tools and is promoting the development of the national payment network A7. In 2025, A7 launched a stablecoin called A7A5 backed by the ruble, used to bypass banking restrictions and assist Russian companies in converting rubles into USDT for cross-border trade payments. On-chain data shows that the trading volume of A7A5 has exceeded $87 billion.

Garantex’s renewed activity further indicates that Russia is building an alternative payment system through multi-layered crypto structures to evade sanctions and sustain international trade flows. Global Ledger points out that this evidence reflects a broader trend: more and more countries are developing new cryptocurrency-based payment channels to weaken the impact of traditional sanctions and financial blockades.