TechFlow news, August 15 — According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced today sanctions against multiple companies, exchanges, and executives linked to the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex and the ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5.
OFAC stated that Garantex is suspected of processing over $100 million in ransomware and darknet transactions. After its domain names were seized and $26 million in funds frozen, the involved parties quickly established Grinex to continue operations.
The A7A5 stablecoin is issued by Kyrgyzstan-based Old Vector and backed by Russian state-owned bank Promsvyazbank. Blockchain analytics firm data shows the stablecoin has reached a daily trading volume of $1 billion, with cumulative trading exceeding $51 billion, making it a significant tool for sanction evasion.
This sanctions action was coordinated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, aiming to disrupt digital asset channels used for ransomware attacks and sanction circumvention.
