Blacklisted Suex Addresses Received Over $900 Million in Crypto, Report Reveals –

Cryptocurrency addresses allegedly used by Russian exchange Suex, which was recently placed under US sanctions, have received more than $934 million in crypto assets, blockchain analysis suggests. According to the Ministry of Finance, criminal actors were involved in over 40% of the platform's transactions. A co-founder of Suex has denied any illegal activity.

Sanctioned Crypto Broker Suex Processed $370 Million in Illegal Crypto Funds, Report

The US Treasury Department is taking steps to mitigate ransomware attacks target on digital asset exchanges this week. As part of the measures, the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). imposed sanctions on Suex, a Russia-based over-the-counter crypto broker accused of facilitating ransomware payments and money laundering.

On Tuesday, OFAC released an updated advisory about the risks associated with ransomware and added Suex OTC sro added to the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN). The office also published a number of BTC, ETH and USDT Addresses controlled by the company registered in the Czech Republic but operating from physical offices in the major Russian cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

According to a Test report From Elliptic, the 25 blacklisted addresses received over $934 million worth of crypto assets. Based on OFAC's claim that 40% of trading on Suex involved illicit funds, the blockchain analytics firm estimates that the total number of crypto transactions related to illicit activity is over $370 million in fiat equivalent.

Elliptic notes that with the actions against the Russian exchange, the number of cases in which OFAC has imposed sanctions on cryptocurrency activities has reached seven. Additionally, the bureau's list of crypto addresses linked to threat actors has exceeded 120 entries.

Following the US Financial Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agency's decision, American companies and individuals should not conduct crypto transactions with the sanctioned Russian broker. Restrictions also apply to US banks, which must avoid processing fiat currency transactions on behalf of Suex and clearing transfers for banks that work with the exchange, Elliptic added, emphasizing:

The impact could be frightening, effectively cutting off Suex from any downstream access to the US dollar clearing system.

Suex co-founder rejects allegations of illegal activities

There has been no official response to Suex's sanctions yet, but a Russian entrepreneur and manager, Vasily Zhabykin, has Confirmed in a telephone conversation with the New York Times that he is one of its founders. Suex, he explained, was founded to develop software for the financial industry. Zhabykin denied any illegal activity and suggested his company may have been accidentally targeted. The Finance Ministry has revealed few details about the company, except for two addresses in Moscow and Prague, respectively, and the exchange's website, Suex.io.

In addition to Vasily Zhabykin, Egor Petukhovsky, Ildar Zakirov, Maxim Subbotin, Maxim Kurbangaleev and the Czech venture capitalist Tibor Bokor, Forklog are expected to participate in the company. be involved reported. In a conversation with the crypto news outlet, Kurbangaleev denied direct involvement and only admitted that he and his business partners had already considered partnering with the Czech Republic-registered company in 2019. Petukhovsky, a Russian citizen, was announced as the largest shareholder of Suex OTC sro. identified, while Zhabykin and Bokor are considered their leaders.

An investigation by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs revealed that “Suex initially operated under the ownership of an Estonian company – Izibits OU, which still has an Estonian Virtual Asset Service Provider license in its name.” Izibits, which is listed as Suex's corporate owner on its Russian-language website, is also the operator of Chatex, a Telegram bot that offers crypto exchange services. The domain Suex.io is owned by St. Vincent-based Hightrade Finance Ltd. registered, the legal entity that Chatex users must enter into their terms of use.

What do you think about the Suex case and US sanctions against the Russian crypto broker? Let us know in the comments section below.

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