Hydra and the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange sanctioned by the United States

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the darknet marketplace Hydra and the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified more than 100 cryptocurrency addresses linked to illicit transactions.

Investigation found that Hydra accounts processed around $8 million linked to ransomware proceeds, including Ryuk, Sodinokibi and Conti.

An analysis of known Garantex transactions showed that operations totaling more than $100 million were linked to illicit entities and darknet marketplaces. Of these, nearly $6 million came from the Russian hacking group Conti and about $2.6 million from Hydra.

OFAC blocked any property of Hydra and Garantex within the United States. Residents and citizens are prohibited from dealing with the platforms.

The investigation builds on recent sanctions against Suex and Chatex, which, like Garantex, operated from the Federation Tower in Moscow.

The measures are also aimed at preventing Russia from evading sanctions through cryptocurrencies.

“This is a signal to criminals that they cannot hide in the darknet, neither in Russia nor anywhere else in the world,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

German police confiscated Hydra’s servers and seized 543 BTC.

In early March 2022, the operator of the Garantex exchange abandoned its Estonian license to operate with virtual currencies after discovering a number of systemic violations in its operations.

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