New Grinex exchange believed to be Garantex rebrand

Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, which had its domains sequestered and an administrator apprehended last month, is suspected to have been reborn as Grinex owing to significant associations between both platforms, BleepingComputer reports. Grinex, which was promoted on Telegram channels tied to the Satoshkin group linked with the disrupted crypto exchange, not only had a user interface similar to Garantex but also declared an agreement to onboard Garantex clients, as well as the exchange's former employees, an analysis from TRM Labs revealed. "Even more revealing, Grinex began distributing former Garantex user assets through a new token, A7A5," said TRM Labs researchers, who noted that the stablecoin had been touted on Garantex two weeks before it was dismantled. Additional findings showed the emergence of the ABCEX and Rapira platforms that have also been touted as replacements for Garantex, with the former found to be associated with Garantex founder Sergey Mendeleev. Such a development was regarded by researchers to indicate the highly adaptive nature of illicit networks.