Japan Sanctions Garantex, 33 Entities Over Russia's War

Japan's government added Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex to an expanded sanctions list on October 2, 2026, freezing the assets of 33 entities and nine individuals and restricting 35 vessels tied to Russia's oil trade.

The measures were issued under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act following a Cabinet decision and include a permission requirement for payments and specified capital transactions with listed parties under Japan's foreign exchange law.

Garantex had already faced sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and other jurisdictions for helping Russian entities evade financial restrictions, including links to ransomware actors and darknet markets.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control first sanctioned the exchange in April 2022, saying its analysis linked more than $100 million in known Garantex transactions to illicit actors and darknet markets, including funds associated with the Conti ransomware group and the Hydra marketplace.