Indian authorities have arrested Aleksej Bešciokov, a Lithuanian national accused of operating the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. The arrest occurred in Kerala, where Bešciokov was vacationing with his family.

In coordination with local law enforcement, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) detained him as he was preparing to leave the country.

India Detains Garantex Operator Aleksej Bešciokov on U.S. Charges

The arrest was made in response to charges filed in the United States, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

According to an indictment filed on February 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Bešciokov and his co-defendant, Aleksandr Mira Serda, allegedly facilitated illicit transactions through Garantex.

Prosecutors claim the exchange has been used for activities linked to ransomware, hacking, drug trafficking, and sanctions violations since 2019.

Garantex has been under heightened scrutiny in recent weeks. On March 6, the platform suspended all services, including withdrawals, after Tether froze $27 million in USDT connected to its operations.

U.S. authorities also seized three domain names associated with the exchange as part of their legal action.

According to prosecutors, Bešciokov and Mira Serda took deliberate measures to obscure criminal transactions processed through the platform.

In one case, when Russian law enforcement requested information on an account linked to Mira Serda, Garantex allegedly provided misleading and incomplete data to conceal its ownership.

Garantex was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in April 2022 for failing to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.

The European Union imposed additional sanctions on the platform in February as part of its measures against Russia.

Court documents allege that Garantex regularly moved its cryptocurrency wallets to avoid detection, making it difficult for U.S.-based exchanges to block illicit transactions.

Bešciokov is expected to be extradited to the U.S. under India’s Extradition Act of 1962. It remains unclear whether he will contest the extradition, as similar legal proceedings in the past have faced delays.

Meanwhile, Mira Serda, a Russian national who co-founded Garantex and served as its chief commercial officer, remains large.

If convicted, Bešciokov and Mira Serda face up to 20 years in prison for money laundering conspiracy. Bešciokov could receive an additional 20 years for violating sanctions and five years for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

U.S. Authorities Target Crypto Market Manipulation With Gotbit Indictments

The crackdown on illicit crypto activities continues as U.S. authorities ramp up efforts to bring key figures to justice.

Following the high-profile cases of Terraform Labs’ Do Kwon and FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, Aleksei Andriunin, the founder of crypto hedge fund Gotbit, has been extradited from Portugal to the U.S.

Andriunin was arrested on October 8 and extradited on October 25. He faces charges of market manipulation and wire fraud conspiracy.

He appeared in Boston federal court and was ordered to remain in custody. A federal grand jury issued his indictment on October 31, which also names Gotbit directors Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili.

The case stems from an FBI sting operation involving a fake token, NexFundAI (NEXF), designed to expose market manipulation schemes.

Prosecutors allege that Gotbit used software to execute wash trades, inflating trading volumes to secure exchange token listings.

Reports indicate the firm generated “tens of millions of dollars” in illicit profits, with Andriunin allegedly funneling funds into his Binance account.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison for wire fraud and another five years for market manipulation.

For now, these arrests are in the process of finding the accused guilty. They would face adequate consequences if they were found guilty of their crimes.

All these crimes add to regulators’ growing concerns regarding the anonymity of cryptocurrencies, which have been a haven for criminals to obscure their illicit funds.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The post India Arrests Garantex Founder Aleksej Bešciokov; U.S. Extradition Expected appeared first on Cryptonews.

The supply of stablecoins continues to grow, reaching 1% of the US broad money in circulation. While this side of crypto finance remains small in comparison, the trend of crypto dollarization continues. 

The supply of stablecoins reached 1% of the US M2 money supply, becoming a notable factor in personal finance. Stablecoins reached a supply of $226.9B, with a constant trend of expansion. Other estimation techniques place the supply at $227.58B in dollar value, taking into account temporary de-pegs or premiums. More conservative estimates count $223.1B in stablecoins, as part of real-world asset tokenization (RWA).

The leading USDT and USDC drive the trend of dollarization of the crypto market, where pricing and liquidity are still hinging on the US economy and influence. The structure of stablecoins is similar to that of M2 money, which includes cash on hand, checking and savings accounts, short-term savings tools and deposits. Stablecoins offer similar liquidity tools, and not all are immediately available for trading. 

The M2 money supply in the USA expanded again in the past few months, reaching over 21.6 trillion. Currently, the M2 supply sits close to the post-pandemic period of quantitative easing. The increased money supply itself was one of the drivers of crypto adoption, leaving excess liquidity for new asset types. 

Stablecoins are expected to keep their trend, with a prediction for a supply of $400B by the end of the year. The M2 money expanded by over 39% since the pandemic years, while stablecoins had a much more rapid growth. Since the bull market of 2021, stablecoin supply expanded 10 times. 

Stablecoin inflows followed general market enthusiasm, but also expanded based on niche ecosystems. One of the sources of growth was the inflow of stablecoins to Solana (SOL), as well as L2 chains on Ethereum. TRON was also a driver for wider stablecoin adoption, adding over 55B in supply. 

Stablecoins are also more rarely burned during the latest market cycle. Instead, after creation, stablecoins wait on the sidelines in the form of exchange reserves. USDT and USDC are widely used to rebuild leveraged positions or to wait for favourable trades.

Derivative exchanges take up stablecoin supply

Over $44B in stablecoin supply has flowed into derivative exchanges, bringing the supply near an all-time low. Spot exchanges see outflows of liquidity, as whales often deposit stablecoins just before buying. 

For leveraged traders, however, stablecoin deposits ensure the ability to rebuild positions and post the required margin for leveraged trades. The expansion of stablecoins adds to the effect of derivative trading on overall crypto performance. 

After the recent market drawdown, exchanges are back to receiving positive net inflows of stablecoins. Reserves expanded by another $291M as of March 12, following a period of significant net outflows. 

Tether remains the leading stablecoin issuer

Despite restrictions for US traders, USDT remains the leading stablecoin. In the past month, the supply of USDT expanded by $2.39B, despite the market downturn. USDC, the second-biggest stablecoin, expanded its supply to over 56B tokens, with the goal of surpassing Tether’s stablecoin. 

USDT reached a total supply of 143.14B tokens, with a daily turnover of over $61B in trading volumes. USDC has a much slower daily trading activity of only $13B. The token, however, aims to catch up due to its wider acceptance by financial regulators. 

USDC still managed to expand its share of the total stablecoin supply from 20% to around 25% since November 2024. However, the token slowed down its transfer volume in the past month, down by 28.36% after the slowdown of Solana DEX activity and token trading. 

At the same time, USDT increased its transfer volume by 15.47%, based on Artemis data.

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