Did Greenex, associated with Galantex, move $6 billion to avoid sanctions?

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A Kyrgyzstan-based cryptocurrency exchange with suspected ties to Russian trading platform Garantex appears to have found a way to circumvent US sanctions and move billions of dollars in funds since it was blacklisted in August of this year.

According to an investigation by the Financial Times (FT), around 34 billion A7A5 stablecoins worth more than $400 million were destroyed and “recreated” to hide their ties to Galantex’s alleged successor Greenex, which was added to the US sanctions list in August.

Meanwhile, Grinex denies all links with Garantex.

A7A5 is a key component of the A7 payment system, created by Moscow as an alternative to the US-led system that has sanctioned Russian users after the invasion of Ukraine.

As detailed by FT analysts, the balances of two wallets linked to Grinex were “set to zero” via a “destroyBlackFunds” prompt that classified the tokens as “dirtyShares.”

However, immediately after these tokens were removed, new tokens with the exact same value appeared in new wallets.

The FT also revealed that the wallet in question — TNpJj — Involved in transactions worth $6.1 billion Since Greenex was approved.

Read more: Tether freezes $27 million, Galantex says ‘Russian wallet USDT is under threat’

The name will change, but the business hours will remain the same.

The FT also revealed striking similarities between Grinex and its wallet, and Garantex.

Firstly, the new wallet shares 11 trading partners and most of the transfers take place during business hours in Moscow. This is incredibly similar to the activity observed in previous versions.

Customer service is also available “weekdays from 10am to 8pm Moscow time,” and Greenex’s OTC division is located at the same address formerly used by Galantex.

A7A5 is registered in Kyrgyzstan — Designated as “friendly” by Moscow.

Last week, Russia granted A7A5 official digital financial asset status, allowing exporters and importers to use it via Promsvyazbank, a platform that backs each token with rubles.