Japan adds Russian crypto exchange Garantex to sanctions list over Ukraine war

On October 2, 2026, Japan added the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex to its asset-freeze list under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, joining previous enforcement actions by the US and EU. The measures require government permission for payments and capital transactions involving Garantex, alongside restrictions on 35 Russian shadow fleet vessels. Despite previous US domain seizures in March 2025 and allegations of processing over $96 billion in transactions, Garantex operators reportedly migrated customer assets to a successor platform, Grinex, highlighting the ongoing challenges of international sanctions enforcement.

Japan's sanctions on Garantex

• ▪Under Japan's October 2, 2026 sanctions, payments and capital transactions involving Garantex and other listed parties require government permission under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.
• ▪Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs identified the sanctioned exchange under its formal name, Garantex Europe OU, listing addresses in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
• ▪Japan added the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex to its asset-freeze list on October 2, 2026, as part of a broader sanctions package targeting 33 entities and nine individuals.

Japan's restrictions on shadow fleet

• ▪Japan's October 2, 2026 sanctions package imposed service and financing restrictions on 35 vessels identified as part of Russia's shadow fleet.
• ▪Vessel contracts signed before October 2, 2026 receive limited relief from Japan's restrictions only if they are carried out before November 1, 2026.

Previous western sanctions on Garantex

• ▪The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control first sanctioned Garantex in April 2022, linking over $100 million in transactions to ransomware groups and darknet markets.
• ▪Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic reported that Garantex processed over $60 billion in transactions after the first U.S. sanctions in 2022, and more than $96 billion in total.
• ▪Garantex was previously sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for allegedly helping Russian entities evade financial restrictions and facilitating money laundering.

Enforcement actions against Garantex operations

• ▪U.S. authorities seized three domains used by Garantex on March 6, 2025, while German and Finnish authorities seized servers supporting the exchange's operations.
• ▪U.S. prosecutors unsealed criminal charges against Garantex administrators Aleksej Besciokov and Aleksandr Mira Serda, with Besciokov subsequently detained in India.

Migration of funds to Grinex

• ▪U.S. authorities stated that Garantex employees transferred customer deposits and operations to a successor cryptocurrency exchange named Grinex, which was incorporated in Kyrgyzstan in 2024.
• ▪The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Grinex alongside a second re-designation of Garantex in August 2025.
• ▪A report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs indicates that entities like Garantex prepare contingency plans in advance of enforcement to quickly migrate clients and funds to successor platforms.

Debatable claims

• ▪Japan should prioritize sanctioning active successor platforms over defunct cryptocurrency exchanges
• ▪Private stablecoin freezes are more effective than government sanctions at stopping illicit crypto
• ▪Cryptocurrency's design makes traditional financial sanctions obsolete