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yesterday

Sanctioned Exchange Grinex Halts After $13–$15 Million Hot-Wallet Heist

Blockchain analysts traced rapid stablecoin outflows that were swapped into TRX and ETH to avoid freezes.

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A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
A $100 bill with green digital numbers appearing throughout the bill.
Sanctioned Russia-linked Grinex halts operations after large-scale crypto hack

Overview

  • Investigators said the theft hit around 12:00 UTC on Wednesday, and Grinex then froze trading, locked office access in Moscow, and filed criminal complaints.
  • Elliptic and TRM Labs tracked about $13–$15 million in USDT leaving dozens of hot wallets on TRON and Ethereum before the funds were converted into TRX or ETH and consolidated.
  • Grinex published 54 affected addresses and loss tallies, with on-chain watchers pointing to a destination holding roughly 45.9 million TRX that pooled much of the haul.
  • The exchange blamed “foreign special services” and said the operation targeted Russia’s financial sovereignty, but outside firms have not confirmed any state role.
  • Grinex has been sanctioned by the U.S., U.K., and EU as a successor to Garantex and a key venue for the ruble-linked A7A5 token, and TRM reported overlapping activity at TokenSpot that suggests spillover risk to related platforms.