Crypto Exchange Grinex Blames Western Spies for $13m Theft

Grinex, a Kyrgyzstan-based cryptocurrency exchange tied to the sanctioned Garantex, says a “large-scale cyber-attack” by foreign intelligence agencies led to the theft of one billion rubles and forced it to suspend operations; it filed a criminal complaint and published the destination crypto address. Chainalysis and other blockchain experts are skeptical, observing that the stolen funds were quickly swapped into TRX via a Tron-based DEX—a common laundering tactic—and proposing the possibility of a false flag or an exit scam by exchange operators while the funds currently remain at a single address pending further forensic tracing.