Hey all, Liam here. 

One of the largest crypto exchanges that handled Russia’s sanctioned stablecoin, A7A5, just shut up shop — poof — dishing another massive blow to the country’s weakening economy.

On Wednesday, Grinex announced on its Telegram channel that it would halt operations after allegedly suffering a cyberattack which robbed the platform of over 1 billion rubles, or $13 million. 

The post’s authors claim the attack bears “signs of involvement by foreign intelligence services” due to “an unprecedented level of resources and technology available exclusively to agencies of hostile states.”

More importantly, the fall of Grinex, which facilitated nearly $100 billion in volume for A7A5 in 2025, is a serious setback to Russia’s sanctions-dodging infrastructure.

“Grinex going dark presents serious damage to that infrastructure, not just because of the hack itself, but because it removes the exchange Russian businesses relied on to convert rubles into usable international currency,” Nick Harris, CEO at crypto asset recovery firm CryptoCare, told DL News. 

“The pressure on the Russian economy from sanctions just got a little harder to escape."

What is Grinex?

Grinex is the successor to Garantex, a previously sanctioned and shuttered crypto exchange. 

The two platforms were spun up to provide a financial escape valve for the Russian economy, which has been under pressure from a slew of sanctions after President Vladimir Putin’s regime invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Grinex has also been critical for facilitating transactions denominated in A7A5. The stablecoin has provided a useful transaction mechanism for sanctioned firms to do business.

But in August 2025, US, European, and British authorities also sanctioned Grinex, along with the issuing company behind A7A5, Old Vector.  

Western authorities at the time suggested that the exchange and stablecoin were set up as part of a “shadow financial system” designed to bypass the global banking network. 

Two scenarios

US-led sanctions on Russia have dramatically slowed the economy, suggest experts.

Putin revealed that the country’s gross domestic product dropped by 1.8% in January and February, falling below his expectations. The dreary GDP figures are likely to remain unchanged for some time.

Local outlets report that Russia's seaborne oil exports, a major source of revenue for the country, may drop to their lowest levels since 2023 due to infrastructure damage, presumably incurred during the war.

Some European leaders, including Thomas Nilsson, the head of Sweden’s military intelligence and security service, suspect that these figures are actually much worse, given the current price of crude oil.

“The Russian economy can only enter one of two scenarios: long-term decline or shock. Either way, they will continue on a downslope to a financial disaster,” Nilsson told the Financial Times.

ICYMI

• Illegal Russian crypto exchange operators to face 7 years of hard labour under new laws
  Buying and selling crypto in Russia without a central bank-issued operating permit will land you in a forced labour camp for up to seven years — if the Kremlin gets its way.

• ‘Mother, may I?’ UK regulator’s proposed crypto rules too broad, warns lawyer
  The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority this week released a proposal on how best to regulate cryptocurrencies in Britain, focusing on stablecoins, staking and trading platforms.

• SEC tackles crypto in first episode of new podcast
  It's just a small fraction of US markets. Still, crypto dominated the first episode of a new podcast hosted by Paul Atkins, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Latest from DL Research

Story of the week

Drift degen sues Circle, alleging stablecoin giant ‘did nothing’ during $295m hack

Circle’s sluggish reaction to an April Fools’ Day heist helped North Korean hackers make off with $230 million in stolen crypto, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

On April 1, hackers drained over $295 million from Drift, a Solana-based trading platform. It was the largest hack of a decentralised finance protocol so far in 2026. Investigators have since attributed it to North Korean cybercriminals.

While Drift lost some $295 million in crypto, the hackers made off with just $230 million because other, smaller companies were able to freeze some of the stolen assets.

Post of the week

With nearly $800 million nabbed in crypto hacks this year alone, perhaps those pesky middlemen could’ve helped?

DL News is an independent news organisation that provides original, in-depth reporting on the largely misunderstood world of cryptocurrency and decentralised finance. From original stories to investigations, our journalism is accurate, honest and responsible.

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