- The United States and the United Kingdom are investigating more than $20 billion in cryptocurrency transactions via a Russia-based exchange, according to Bloomberg.
- The report said that this amount represents the largest violation of sanctions since the start of the war.
- The United States sanctioned Moscow-based cryptocurrency exchange Garantex in 2022.
The United States and the United Kingdom are investigating $20 billion in cryptocurrency transactions that passed through a Russia-based exchange, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, as the West seeks to clamp down on methods Moscow can use to evade sanctions over its war against Ukraine.
Sources told Bloomberg that the audited payments flowed through Moscow-based cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, using the dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether.
Sources told Bloomberg that the $20 billion worth of transactions would represent one of the most significant sanctions violations against Russia since the Biden administration's crackdown on Kremlin-linked cryptocurrency exchanges at the start of the war in February 2022. However, they noted that given the complexity of cryptocurrency transactions, it is It is too early to draw conclusions.
The payments made on the exchange were in Tether, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar that is the most widely traded cryptocurrency in the world, mostly used to swap from one cryptocurrency to another or to fiat currency. There is no sign of wrongdoing on Tether Holdings' part, but the ease of using cryptocurrencies for crypto-to-physical currency transactions has made them a frequent tool for cybercriminals, the sources said.
Founded in 2019 in Estonia, Garantex now operates primarily out of Moscow's Federation Tower, according to US government reports. Estonia revoked its operating license in February 2022, in line with US efforts to clamp down on the exchange.
The US Treasury criticized Garantix for allowing “the misuse of its systems by illicit parties” and for evading responsibilities to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The department sanctioned the exchange in April 2022, linking it to more than $100 million in illicit transactions by criminal groups including the Russian ransomware gang Conti.
