On March 13, 2025, Indian authorities arrested Aleksej Bešciokov, the co-founder of the sanctioned crypto exchange Garantex. This incident marks a key breakthrough in the three-year investigation of the U.S. Treasury Department since it imposed sanctions on Garantex in 2022. The exchange has long been the focus of global law enforcement agencies due to multiple charges such as transnational money laundering, sanctions evasion, and the flow of funds for ransomware organizations.
1. Why was Garantex sanctioned?
Garantex was established in 2019. On the surface, it is an ordinary cryptocurrency exchange, but its operating model has been controversial. In April 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) officially included Garantex on the sanctions list on the grounds that the exchange was suspected of assisting Russian oligarchs in circumventing Western sanctions and becoming a tool for money laundering for multiple criminal organizations.
According to investigations by relevant agencies, Garantex has accepted hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds, including funds used to finance hacker attacks, ransomware payments, terrorist financing, and drug trafficking. In addition, the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group has also been accused of using Garantex to launder money and provide financial support for illegal cyber attacks.
Second, under sanctions: How does Garantex continue to operate?
After being sanctioned, Garantex did not immediately go bankrupt, but continued to operate in the black market and the Russian domestic market. Since the sanctions were implemented in 2022, the exchange has still processed more than $60 billion in capital flows. This phenomenon is mainly attributed to the following factors:
1. Russian local shelter:Garantex mainly serves the Russian market, and the Russian government has always been ambiguous about the exchange and has not taken compulsory measures to close it.
2. Departure from the Western financial system:After the sanctions, Garantex almost completely separated from the US dollar system and turned to using cryptocurrencies and the Russian local banking system for settlement.
3. Dark web and black market transactions:Garantex has become an important trading channel for multiple dark web markets, illegal financial services and hacker organizations, circumventing international supervision.
Although the sanctions of the US Treasury Department have cut off Garantex's ties with most international financial institutions, the exchange continues to operate using decentralized financial (DeFi) tools and anonymous wallets.
Statement by law enforcement agencies on the Garantex website
III. Garantex website closure: the latest developments in international law enforcement
In March 2025, German and Finnish law enforcement agencies jointly seized Garantex's servers, forcing the exchange's official website and main trading system to go offline. This action shows that global law enforcement agencies are stepping up enforcement of sanctions targets, no longer limited to account freezes, but directly striking at their infrastructure.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released an indictment against Garantex's co-founder, accusing him of money laundering, violating the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), and operating an unregistered remittance business.
Fourth, Garantex funds are frozen: $2.6 billion in illegal assets have been seized
At the same time as the website was shut down, US law enforcement agencies announced the freezing of more than $2.6 billion in funds in Garantex-related accounts. The Department of Justice stated that these funds were mainly used to support illegal transactions and help criminal organizations bypass the international financial regulatory system.
This fund freezing operation means that Garantex's capital chain has been hit hard, and the possibility of its further operation has been greatly reduced. In addition, the US Treasury Department is working with other countries to track the flow of assets of Garantex and its related accounts to prevent funds from being transferred to other money laundering channels.
Five. Founder arrested: Aleksej Bešciokov's end
On March 13, 2025, Garantex co-founder Aleksej Bešciokov was arrested while on vacation in India. It is reported that he had been active in the UAE and tried to use his overseas identity to evade US judicial pursuit.
According to the DOJ's indictment, Bešciokov is not only the technical director of Garantex, but also responsible for the exchange's infrastructure maintenance, transaction review and asset transfer arrangements. The DOJ said that he has long been active in Russian hacker forums under the pseudonym "proforg" and has maintained contact with multiple criminal organizations.
Currently, Bešciokov is being held in New Delhi, India. He will appear in court on March 14, and the US government may request his extradition to the United States for trial based on the extradition treaty. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Sixth, Beosin KYT protects users from Garantex fund pollution
Currently, the Beosin team uses professional insight to comprehensively and continuously mark Garantex's addresses on multiple mainstream chain platforms. We closely track the dynamic changes of Garantex addresses and continue to invest resources to update the label library to ensure that any changes to its addresses can be accurately tracked.
Beosin KYT screenshot
When a user/customer receives or transfers funds involving Garantex-related addresses, the Beosin KYT system will immediately issue a real-time alert based on the latest tag information, helping compliance personnel to detect risks at the first time and take effective measures quickly to fully protect customer funds and business compliance.
Conclusion: The impact of the Garantex incident and future regulatory trends
The progress of the Garantex case reflects that the international community is continuously strengthening its supervision of illegal cryptocurrency activities. From sanctions against Garantex to global law enforcement actions to the arrest of the founder, this series of measures shows that the global crypto market is experiencing an unprecedented trend of compliance.
At the same time, this incident also sounded the alarm for the entire crypto industry. Governments and regulators are actively establishing stricter anti-money laundering (AML) systems to prevent exchanges like Garantex from becoming channels for laundering criminal funds again.
In the future, compliance will be the key to the survival of exchanges, and blockchain security compliance companies such as Beosin will become increasingly important in tracking the flow of illegal funds. For participants in the crypto market, this case is not only a warning against black market transactions, but also a profound reflection on the future development direction of the entire industry.
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