Garantex Halts Operations as Tether Blocks $27 Million in USDT

As a result, Garantex has halted all services, including withdrawals, and placed its website under maintenance.

In a Telegram message shared on March 6, Garantex claimed that Tether had "entered the war against the Russian crypto market" by blocking its wallets, holding over 2.5 billion rubles (about $27 million).

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The exchange also warned users that USDT in Russian wallets could face further restrictions. Despite the setback, it stated, "We will fight, and we will not give up".

The European Union (EU) recently added Garantex to its sanctions list on February 26 as part of ongoing measures against Russia. Before the EU’s action, the United States had already blacklisted Garantex.

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the platform in April 2022. According to OFAC, while Garantex was founded in 2019 and initially registered in Estonia, most of its operations take place in Russia.

Russian lawmaker Anton Gorelkin, a deputy head of the country’s information policy committee, posted on Telegram, suggesting Western countries would continue applying pressure on the crypto industry. However, he added:

It should be recognized that it is impossible to completely block this market for Russia.

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