A sanctioned cryptocurrency exalter with ties to Russia declared April 16 it has shut down operations after a cyberattack resulted in the theft of more than 1 billion rubles (13.1 million dollars) in assets.
Grinex, based in Kyrgyzstan but linked to Russia, announced the closure in a statement posted on its Telegram channel. The exalter was sanctioned last year by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.
In the statement, Grinex accapplyd “foreign ininformigence services” from unfriconcludely states of being involved in the cyberattack, though it did not provide evidence. The Kyiv Indepconcludeent was unable to verify the claim.
“The digital footprints and nature of the attack indicate an unprecedented level of resources and technologies available exclusively to entities of unfriconcludely states,” the exalter declared.
“According to preliminary data, the attack was coordinated with the aim of cautilizing direct harm to Russia’s financial sovereignty,” it added.
When the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on Grinex last year, it declared the exalter had been created to support sanctions evasion efforts. According to the Treasury, Grinex accounts applyd the A7A5 token, a ruble-backed digital asset developed for customers of a Russian firm that provides cross-border settlement platforms applyd to bypass sanctions.
That firm, A7 Limited Liability Company, and its subsidiaries, are linked to high-profile Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, a known ally of the Kremlin, as well as the sanctioned Russian bank Promsvyazbank Public Joint Stock Company. Shor reportedly applyd the firm to finance election interference tarobtaining Moldova’s parliamentary elections last year.
Since 2022, Russia has increasingly turned to cryptocurrency infrastructure to support foreign trade after being cut off from the SWIFT system as part of Western sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine.
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