Binance News: Sanctioned Russian Crypto Exchange Garantex Rebrands as Grinex

In a surprising twist, a Russian crypto exchange that was recently shut down due to sanctions has reportedly relaunched under a new name. Here’s what you need to know.

Sanctioned Russian Crypto Exchange Garantex Launches Grinex

Garantex, a Russian crypto exchange, was recently shut down due to sanctions. Tether froze some of its wallets containing USDT worth $28 million, and the US Department of Justice seized its domains. However, a new report by Swiss blockchain analytics company Global Ledger claims that Garantex’s team has already launched a similar exchange called Grinex. The report provides conclusive evidence that Grinex is a direct continuation of Garantex.

Binance Maintains Over 100% Reserves for 29 Straight Months

Binance has maintained a reserve ratio above 100% for 29 consecutive months despite rumors of the crypto exchange selling off a significant portion of its Bitcoin reserve, according to blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant. The reserve ratio is a key metric that shows whether an exchange holds enough assets to match customer balances. A ratio above 100% means that Binance has more reserves than the total customer balances on its platform, reducing insolvency risks. CryptoQuant analyst Maartun recently reported that Binance’s total customer balance stands at 633,092 BTC. Out of this, 606,143 BTC is held directly by Binance, while 26,948 BTC is stored as BTCB—a tokenized version of Bitcoin on the BNB Smart Chain—managed via third-party custody.