Crypto exchange Garantex in Russia is sounding the alarm for its users. They’re warning that “all USDT in Russian wallets is currently under threat.” This comes after Tether, the company behind the major stablecoin, froze a significant $27 million worth of USDT on their platform.

Adding to the disruption, Garantex has completely paused operations. Currently, their website is offline, citing “technical work” as the reason.

The exchange broke the news of Tether’s action in a Telegram post this Thursday. Their message was quite direct, stating, “Tether has entered the war against the Russian crypto market and blocked our wallets worth more than 2.5 billion rubles ($27 million).”

Despite this setback, Garantex is projecting defiance, assuring its users, “We will fight, and we will not give up.”

It’s worth remembering that Garantex was already sanctioned by the European Union (EU) back in February. This was part of the EU’s broader effort to pressure Russia to end its “war of aggression against Ukraine,” as they call it.

The EU has explicitly stated that Garantex has “closely associated with EU-sanctioned Russian banks.”

“For the first time, the Council also decided to sanction a cryptocurrency exchange based in Russia, Garantex, which is closely associated with EU-sanctioned Russian banks,” the EU explained in their official sanction announcement.

Adding to their regulatory woes, the Russian exchange is also under sanctions from the United States as well. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) first took action against Garantex way back in April 2022.