The U.S. State Department and Treasury have jointly launched a new level of global pressure: for information leading to the arrest of Garantex executives, they are offering up to $6 million. Of this, $5 million is offered for information on the whereabouts of A. M. Serda, and $1 million for the other leaders.
Context reminder: Garantex was once a major crypto exchange, through which more than $100 million in illicit payments passed since 2019, including funds from ransomware, hacker groups, and darknet markets.
After a joint raid by the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and European agencies in March, Garantex’s websites were seized and $26 million frozen. One administrator, Alexey Bestsiokov, was arrested in India — Serda remains on the run.
This is a new reckoning for creating crypto infrastructure that became the financial engine of the criminal world. Grinex, its “successor,” is now also under sanctions. And now it is no longer just about blocking platforms — but about capturing specific individuals behind them. State interest has already become the subject of public bounty.
