A prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Grinex, which was popular among Russian users seeking to circumvent sanctions, has temporarily ceased operations after falling victim to a sophisticated cyber attack that resulted in the theft of approximately 1 billion rubles, equivalent to $13 million. The exchange, which was previously known as Garantex and is based in Kyrgyzstan, announced the breach on its official Telegram channel and website, attributing the attack to state-sponsored actors from 'hostile nations' due to the high level of coordination and technical expertise involved. According to Grinex, preliminary data suggests that the attack was deliberately designed to undermine Russia's financial independence.
The exchange had been sanctioned by the US, UK, and EU last year for its role in helping users evade restrictions through a ruble-backed stablecoin called A7A5, which facilitated cross-border transactions after Russia's access to the Swift inter-bank messaging system was suspended following its invasion of Ukraine. After being shut down, the platform re-emerged as Grinex.
The suspension of trading activities has left users without access to their funds, pending an investigation, and the company's Moscow office has also been closed off. Grinex has released a list of 54 affected wallet addresses and the corresponding amounts that were drained, with the majority being in the form of USDT on the TRON blockchain.