The shutdown of sanctioned Russian exchange Grinex disrupted a major ruble-to-crypto channel reportedly used to evade Western sanctions after losses of more than 1 billion rubles.
Grinex halted operations after a suspected cyberattack caused losses of more than 1 billion rubles, or about $13 million. The sanctioned Russian crypto exchange had been described as a major ruble-to-crypto channel used to route funds around Western sanctions. According to the reported update, the shutdown cut off an important sanctions-evasion pathway. Existing reporting also stated that Grinex had processed nearly $100 billion in A7A5 stablecoin volume in 2025 and that the platform cited signs of possible foreign intelligence involvement.