Grinex Crypto Exchange Uncovered: Shadowy Flows and Hacking Attacks

The recent hacking attack on Grinex, a Russian crypto exchange, has brought to light a complex web of financial transactions totaling $16.54 billion from March 2025 until its activities ceased. This amount includes $9.25 billion in transactions that occurred after the imposition of American sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The scale of the hacking attack likely significantly exceeded the officially announced figures, with Global Ledger estimating the volume of stolen assets at $19.38 million and extended calculations reaching up to $25.37 million. The exchange itself initially assessed its losses at over $13 million but later revealed a significant discrepancy between the official figures and actual stolen assets.

Analysts have found that part of the stolen USDT was converted into TRON (TRX) through the decentralized exchange SunSwap, suggesting an attempt to avoid asset blocking. Researchers believe these actions resemble a hacker attack for profit rather than an intelligence operation. The fact that nearly 30% of all transactions after sanctions were conducted through centralized exchanges highlights the adaptability of Grinex in the face of regulatory pressure.