The United States has widened its action from Russian-origin crypto exchange Garantex and its successor Grinex to the broader A7 Network. The measures are not all the same: OFAC has imposed blocking sanctions on named people and entities, while FinCEN has proposed a separate restriction on certain fund transfers involving A7 Network sub-agents. As of October 8, 2026, FinCEN’s proposal is not a final rule.
What are the new U.S. sanctions on Garantex?
On October 1, 2026, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the A7 Network, designating it as a significant transnational criminal organization under Executive Order 13581, as amended by Executive Order 13863. The action reaches beyond Garantex and Grinex to a network that Treasury says is involved in sanctions evasion and money laundering. Treasury says the network’s sub-agents disguise illicit transactions as legitimate trade.
The designation follows earlier action against Garantex, its successor exchange Grinex, and related people and firms. The chronology matters because the October 2026 designation is an expansion to a wider network, not the first U.S. action against Garantex.
| Action | What it does | Status as of October 8, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| OFAC designation and blocking sanctions | Blocks property and interests in property of designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons; covered property must be reported to OFAC. | Imposed, including the October 1, 2026 A7 Network designation. |
| FinCEN proposed special measure | Would prohibit covered financial institutions from conducting certain transmittals of funds involving A7 Network sub-agents. | Proposed on October 5, 2026; comments are due November 4, 2026. It is not yet a final rule. |
These measures do not mean every transaction anywhere in the world is automatically prohibited by U.S. law. OFAC blocking obligations apply to U.S. persons and property within U.S. jurisdiction, and FinCEN’s proposal is directed at covered financial institutions and specified transfers. People or businesses dealing with a potentially connected party should check current government lists and seek qualified sanctions-compliance advice rather than infer a legal result from a name or an analytics report alone.
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Is Grinex Garantex’s successor?
Yes. Treasury describes Grinex as a successor exchange created by Garantex employees to continue services after law-enforcement action disrupted Garantex. According to Treasury’s August 14, 2025 announcement, Garantex moved customers and funds to Grinex after the March 2025 disruption. OFAC designated Grinex in August 2025; the October 2026 Federal Register notice also lists Grinex among the A7 Network’s core components.
The sequence began before the 2026 network-wide action:
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- February 2022: Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit revoked Garantex’s digital-asset services license, citing anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing deficiencies and connections to wallets used for criminal activity, according to Treasury.
- April 5, 2022: OFAC first designated Garantex under Executive Order 14024.
- March 6, 2025: The U.S. Secret Service, working with German and Finnish law enforcement, disrupted Garantex’s computer infrastructure, seized its web domain and froze more than $26 million in cryptocurrency controlled by Garantex, Treasury said.
- March 7, 2025: The Justice Department unsealed indictments against Garantex executives Aleksandr Mira Serda and Aleksej Besciokov. Treasury’s August release said Besciokov was arrested in India.
- August 14, 2025: OFAC redesignated Garantex, designated Grinex, and designated three Garantex executives and six associated companies in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
Treasury said Garantex had processed more than $100 million in transactions associated with illicit actors since 2019. That figure is the agency’s characterization of transactions associated with illicit actors; it is not a claim that every transaction through the exchange was illicit.
What is the A7 Network?
A7 is a broader set of companies and financial channels, not another name for Garantex or Grinex alone. Treasury and the October 5 Federal Register notice describe A7, A71 and A7 Agent as Russian companies linked to sanctioned Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor and sanctioned Russian bank Promsvyazbank. The notice identifies Grinex among the network’s core components and includes InDeFi Bank and ExVed in the A7 Network listing.
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- Old Vector LLC: A Kyrgyzstani firm designated by OFAC in August 2025 and identified by Treasury as the issuer of A7A5.
- A7A5: A ruble-backed token that Treasury describes as blocked property and part of the network. Its designation does not make it an endorsed or suitable financial product.
- Sub-agents: The Federal Register proposal names Galadriel Trading FZCO, Gimli Trade LLC-FZ, Hydrofusion Resources FZ-LLC, Pearl Bridge, Power Sphere LLC-FZ and Sigizmund FZCO as examples. The proposed definition could also cover other entities FinCEN identifies as sub-agents.
FinCEN said A7 Network sub-agents processed more than $17 billion in U.S.-dollar-denominated transactions in aggregate between January 2025 and June 2026. This is a total transaction-volume figure, not a finding that all $17 billion was illicit.
What does the OFAC designation require?
Under the October 1 action, property and interests in property of blocked persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. U.S. persons generally may not transact with blocked persons unless an authorization or other applicable exception permits it. The designation can also affect entities not individually named: OFAC’s 50 Percent Rule generally treats an entity as blocked when one or more blocked persons own, directly or indirectly and in aggregate, 50 percent or more of it.
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The blocking rules and any applicable licenses or exceptions depend on the specific parties, property and transaction. A connection alleged by a private analytics company is not itself an OFAC designation; consult OFAC’s live sanctions information for operational decisions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How is FinCEN’s proposed restriction different?
FinCEN’s October 5, 2026 notice is a proposed rule under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. It would prohibit certain transmittals of funds by covered financial institutions involving A7 Network sub-agents. Unlike an OFAC designation already in force, a proposed rule is a request for comment on a potential requirement; it does not establish that the proposed prohibition is already effective.
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The notice sets November 4, 2026 as the deadline for comments. Its scope may change through the rulemaking process, so financial institutions should distinguish the proposal’s terms from any final rule or separate sanctions obligations that apply in the meantime.
What is known about other alleged connections?
TRM Labs reported on October 6, 2026 that TokenSpot shared on-chain infrastructure and transaction flows with Grinex and Garantex. Its analysis attributed $3.54 billion in receipts and $3.14 billion in outgoing transfers to TokenSpot’s TRON addresses from its earliest activity record on December 8, 2023 through September 27, 2026. Those are private-sector blockchain analytics figures, not government findings or proof that all the attributed activity was illicit. The reporting does not itself designate TokenSpot under U.S. sanctions.
Separately, ETHNews reported on October 2, 2026 that Japan had added Garantex Europe OU to its asset-freeze list. That is secondary reporting; the claim should be checked against Japan’s current Ministry of Foreign Affairs list before being treated as a definitive statement of current status.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the October 1 announcement: “Treasury is dismantling the financial infrastructure that allows Iran and other adversaries to evade sanctions, move illicit funds, and undermine the integrity of the global financial system.”
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