Japan sanctions Garantex among 33 Russian entities

Japan added Garantex to a Russia sanctions asset-freeze list covering 33 entities and nine people, while restricting services to 35 vessels.

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Japan has sanctioned Russian crypto exchange Garantex as one of 33 entities added to a new asset-freeze list on Oct. 2, alongside nine individuals and restrictions covering 35 vessels.

Summary

• Japan added Garantex to an asset-freeze list covering 33 entities and nine Russian individuals overall.
• Payments and capital transactions involving listed parties now require permission under Japan’s foreign exchange law.
• Japan imposed service and financing restrictions on 35 vessels named in the October sanctions package.
• American authorities disrupted Garantex in 2025 after alleging extensive money laundering and sanctions evasion activity.
• Existing vessel contracts signed before October 2 receive limited relief only until November 1, 2026.

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the measures were introduced under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act following a Cabinet decision on sanctions connected to Russia and the war in Ukraine. Payments and specified capital transactions with listed parties now require government permission.

The ministry’s official appendix identifies Garantex Europe OU, with Garantex listed as an alias. The document gives addresses in St. Petersburg and Moscow, including Federation East Tower in Moscow City.

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Japan puts Garantex under payment and capital controls

Under the Oct. 2 measures, payments to the 33 entities and nine individuals are subject to a permission system. Japan applies the same requirement to capital transactions involving deposits, trusts and money loans with designated parties.

The government describes the measures as an asset freeze, but the notice does not disclose the value of any Garantex-linked assets located in Japan. It does not identify cryptocurrency wallets connected to Garantex or state that a particular amount of digital assets was frozen.

Garantex is the only cryptocurrency exchange named in the appendix among the latest Russian entities. Japan’s list identifies the company under its formal name, Garantex Europe OU, and includes its commonly used Garantex name.

The sanctions package extends beyond financial restrictions. Japan introduced export prohibitions covering four specific entities located outside Russia and Belarus and announced further restrictions on goods that could contribute to Russia’s industrial capabilities.

A separate part of the package applies to 35 vessels. Providing services specified by Japan’s Ministry of Finance now requires permission, while money loans and debt guarantees connected with the sale, purchase, lease or charter of the vessels face similar controls.

Garantex has faced U.S. and EU sanctions before

Japan’s designation follows several years of enforcement actions against Garantex in the United States and Europe.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control first sanctioned the exchange in April 2022. Treasury said its analysis linked more than $100 million in known Garantex transactions to illicit actors and darknet markets, including funds associated with the Conti ransomware group and Hydra marketplace.

OFAC re-designated Garantex in August 2025 under U.S. cyber sanctions authorities. At the time, Treasury said the exchange had “directly facilitated” ransomware actors and other cybercriminals and repeated its estimate that more than $100 million in transactions since 2019 were connected to illicit activity.

The European Union had placed Garantex under sanctions in February 2025 as part of its 16th package targeting Russia. The Council of the EU described Garantex as a Russia-based cryptocurrency exchange “closely associated with EU-sanctioned Russian banks.” The designation subjected the company to an EU asset freeze and barred EU citizens and companies from making funds available to it.

Garantex’s operating infrastructure came under direct law-enforcement action weeks later. U.S. authorities seized three domains used by the exchange on March 6, 2025, while German and Finnish authorities seized servers supporting its operations.

As crypto.news reported at the time, Garantex suspended its services after Tether froze more than 2.5 billion rubles worth of USDT connected to the exchange.

U.S. prosecutors subsequently unsealed charges against Garantex administrators Aleksej Besciokov and Aleksandr Mira Serda. The Justice Department alleged the exchange had facilitated money laundering and sanctions violations and said Garantex had processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019. The criminal accusations remain allegations.

U.S. authorities later targeted Garantex-linked Grinex

After the March 2025 disruption, U.S. authorities said Garantex moved customers and funds to another cryptocurrency exchange called Grinex.

Treasury’s August 2025 sanctions notice described Grinex as a successor created by Garantex employees to keep providing services after the law-enforcement action. OFAC said customer deposits were transferred to the new platform and that Grinex later processed billions of dollars in cryptocurrency transactions.

In related coverage, crypto.news reported on the movement from Garantex to Grinex, citing blockchain data that tracked funds through temporary wallets before they reached Grinex deposit addresses.

Treasury said Garantex customers regained access to some balances through A7A5, a ruble-backed digital asset issued by Old Vector. The agency said A7A5 had been created for customers of A7, a Russian cross-border settlement company that U.S. authorities accused of supporting sanctions-evasion activity.

Fresh U.S. action reached the same A7 network one day before Japan announced its Garantex designation. On Oct. 1, 2026, Treasury sanctioned the A7 Network as a transnational criminal organization, while the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed restrictions on fund transfers involving its sub-agents.

FinCEN said its investigation found A7 sub-agents processed more than $17 billion between January 2025 and June 2026. Treasury described A7A5 as a blocked ruble-backed token issued by Old Vector and said the network created the asset for international transactions designed to evade sanctions.

The $17 billion figure concerns A7 sub-agents and should not be treated as Garantex transaction volume. Treasury’s separate Garantex findings put known transactions linked to illicit actors at more than $100 million, while the Justice Department said the exchange processed at least $96 billion in total cryptocurrency transactions since 2019.

Japan’s sanctions take effect with a November deadline

Japan’s payment and capital controls on the 33 entities and nine individuals took effect with the Oct. 2 measures. The government did not announce a separate grace period for transactions involving Garantex in its English-language notice.

The 35 vessels are subject to a more specific transitional rule. Japan said the service and financing restrictions apply to obligations and services performed on or after Oct. 2, but contracts signed before that date receive limited temporary treatment.

Obligations or services based on contracts concluded before Oct. 2 may proceed only when they are carried out before Nov. 1, 2026, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notice.

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