A prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Grinex, which was popular among Russians 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 is based in Kyrgyzstan, announced the security breach via its Telegram channel and website, attributing the attack to state-backed entities from 'hostile nations' due to the high level of coordination and technical expertise involved.
According to Grinex, preliminary data suggests that the attack was orchestrated to deliberately undermine Russia's financial autonomy. The exchange had previously been sanctioned by the US, UK, and EU 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 severed 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 while the company conducts an investigation. Moreover, access to Grinex's Moscow office has been restricted.
The exchange has released a list of 54 affected wallet addresses, with most of the stolen funds being in the form of USDT on the TRON blockchain.