A prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Grinex, has temporarily suspended its services after falling victim to a sophisticated cyber attack, resulting in the theft of approximately 1 billion rubles, equivalent to $13 million. The exchange announced the breach via its Telegram channel and official 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 orchestrated to compromise Russia's financial autonomy. The exchange had previously been sanctioned by the US, UK, and EU for allegedly assisting users in evading restrictions through a ruble-backed stablecoin called A7A5, which enabled cross-border transactions after Russia's access to the Swift inter-bank messaging system was severed following its invasion of Ukraine. Originally known as Garantex, the platform reemerged as Grinex after being taken down.
The trading halt has left users unable to access their funds while the company conducts an investigation, and access to its Moscow office has been restricted. A list of 54 affected wallet addresses and the corresponding drained amounts has been published by Grinex, with most of the stolen funds being in the form of USDT on the TRON blockchain.