Finland: United States, Germany and Finland seize Garantex operations concerning the prevention of illegal transactions

On 6 March 2025, a joint operation was conducted by the United States, Germany, and Finland with the objective of disrupting and seizing the online infrastructure of Garantex, a Moscow-based cryptocurrency exchange accused of facilitating money laundering, ransomware payments, and sanctions violations. In the course of this operation, law enforcement agencies seized Garantex's domains (Garantex.org, Garantex.io, and Garantex.academy) and froze over USD 26 million linked to illicit transactions. In addition, German and Finnish authorities proceeded with the seizure of servers hosting Garantex's operations, while US agencies obtained earlier copies of customer and accounting databases to aid ongoing investigations. These actions are intended to prevent further illegal financial transactions and disrupt criminal organisations that use Garantex for illicit activities.