The European Union has decided to impose sanctions against the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. According to the official statement, the exchange has close and long-standing ties with the Russian banking industry.
As stated in the documents, it was possible to deposit and withdraw funds to Garantex using bank cards from Sberbank, T-Bank and Alfa-Bank, which are under EU sanctions.
In addition, sanctions are being introduced against individuals and companies that facilitate the circumvention of the platform's restrictions through third countries. This is the first time that the European Union has imposed restrictions on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Let us recall that the Garantex platform has already been under US sanctions since spring 2023. In March 2024, US and UK authorities, as part of efforts to prevent the circumvention of anti-Russian sanctions, checked more than $20 billion in cryptocurrency transactions that went through Garantex.
The exchange itself was founded in 2019 in Estonia, but the US government said that most of its operations are now based in the Federation Tower in Moscow City. In February 2022, the Estonian government decided to revoke its license to operate in the country.
