6-3-2025 –  Garantex has been forced to cease all services after Tether blocked wallets containing over 2.5 billion roubles on their platform, according to a Thursday announcement.

“Tether has entered the war against the Russian crypto market,” declared the beleaguered exchange via Telegram, as they informed users of the suspension of all cryptocurrency withdrawals whilst vowing to continue their fight against these measures.

The European Union recently targeted Garantex in their 16th sanctions package against Russia, citing the exchange’s alleged close ties with sanctioned Russian banking institutions and accusing it of facilitating sanctions evasion. This action came exactly three years after the conflict in Ukraine began.

Russian parliamentarian Anton Gorelkin offered little sympathy to affected investors, suggesting this represents a predictable risk in the current geopolitical climate. “To the investors who underestimated this risk, my condolences,” he wrote on Telegram, whilst maintaining that cryptocurrencies would continue to serve as effective tools for circumventing international sanctions—with the notable exception of USDT (Tether).

The United States had previously designated Garantex as a “ransomware-enabling virtual currency exchange” in April 2022, claiming the platform permitted illicit actors to abuse its systems.

Since facing exclusion from SWIFT and losing access to dollar transactions, some Russians have increasingly relied on cryptocurrencies for cross-border transfers. The Russian central bank has responded by permitting businesses to utilise digital currencies in international trade operations.

Garantex has explicitly warned that “all USDT held in Russian wallets is now under threat,” raising concerns throughout Russia’s cryptocurrency community. Tether has not yet responded to enquiries regarding their actions against the exchange.