Japan adds Garantex crypto exchange to Russia sanctions

Japan placed crypto exchange Garantex under its Russia sanctions regime in an expanded package that took effect on Oct. 2, 2026. The designation appeared in a joint statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry dated Oct. 2, which said the step followed a Cabinet understanding reached the same day. Cointelegraph reported on Oct. 4 that the move added a crypto trading venue to sanctions tied to the war in Ukraine.

The ministries said the package was part of Japan's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The notice framed the steps as payment-restriction measures taken under foreign-exchange law.

According to the statement, 33 groups and 9 individuals became subject to a permission regime for payments and capital transactions. The notice lists 32 entities plus Garantex in the 33-group count. The regime requires prior permission for covered payments and capital transactions with the named parties.

The same package named 35 vessels described as part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet. Those vessels became subject to a permission regime for services and capital transactions, the ministries stated. Cointelegraph noted that the vessel measures sat alongside the Garantex designation in the Oct. 2 action.

Japan also widened export controls in the package. Four entities located outside Russia and Belarus became subject to an export ban, and Japan tightened curbs on exports to Russia connected to its industrial base, the notice shows. The text did not identify the four entities by name in the summary section of the release. Crypto Briefing added that the broader package reached beyond crypto to shipping and goods controls.

Contracts concluded before Oct. 2 received limited transitional treatment. Performance of such contracts before Nov. 1 is exempt from the new permission requirement, according to the ministries' notice. The exemption applies to acts done in performance of a contract signed before the measures took effect. After that date, the permission regime applies.

The statement described the aim as reducing earnings from Russia's crude-oil exports and related activity. Japanese officials have used similar language in prior sanctions releases tied to energy revenue. The Oct. 2 text placed the Garantex step inside that policy, rather than as a standalone crypto enforcement case.

Garantex was founded in 2019 as a crypto exchange with operations linked to Russia. The exchange has handled more than 96 billion dollars in crypto transactions since April 2019, Cointelegraph said in its account of the designation. That figure has appeared in prior U.S. enforcement statements about the venue. The exchange has not published audited volume data that would allow an independent check of the total.

Estonian authorities revoked Garantex's local license in 2022. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the exchange in 2022, and the European Union took its own restrictive step in 2025, according to prior enforcement records summarized by Crypto Briefing. Each action cited concerns about illicit finance and sanctions evasion.

In March 2025, an international operation seized Garantex infrastructure and froze more than 26 million dollars linked to the exchange. U.S. prosecutors unsealed charges connected to the case at the time, and partner agencies in Europe took part in the takedown. The operation marked one of the largest direct enforcement actions against a crypto venue accused of serving sanctioned users.

U.S. authorities followed in August 2025 with sanctions against Grinex, described as a successor venue to Garantex, along with three executives. The Treasury Department said Grinex had picked up activity after the Garantex disruption. Those designations extended the 2022 Garantex action to people and a venue accused of continuing the same business under a new name.

Analysts have warned that such venues can reappear under new brands. TRM Labs has described a pattern in which users and liquidity move to successor exchanges after a takedown or designation. The firm tracks flows across wallets and services linked to high-risk exchanges. Its researchers said the Garantex case fit that migration pattern.

For Japanese banks, brokers and exchange operators, the effect is a screening duty. They must check for the newly listed names before processing covered payments or capital transactions. The notice points applicants to the standard foreign-exchange permission procedures.

The release did not state whether Japanese authorities had identified Garantex-linked accounts or transactions inside Japan. It also did not announce a separate criminal case tied to the exchange. The text presented the designation as a foreign-policy and economic-security step under the Cabinet understanding of Oct. 2.

The designation took effect immediately on Oct. 2, with the Nov. 1 cutoff as the only transitional window stated in the release. Firms performing pre-existing contracts have until that date to complete covered acts without seeking new permission. New contracts with the listed parties fall under the permission requirement from the start.