Federation Tower — Exchange Succession Timeline
Sep 2021
Suex OTC
Floor 31. First-ever OFAC crypto exchange designation. $160M+ illicit transactions.
Gap: 2 months →
Nov 2021
Chatex
Nested in Suex infrastructure. Same building, same backbone.
Gap: 5 months →
Apr 2022
Garantex
Floor 14. $96B lifetime volume. Lazarus Group funds. Besciokov died in custody.
Gap: 4 days →
Mar 2025
Grinex
Domain pre-registered. A7A5 stablecoin ($93.3B). $13.7M "hack." Suspended Apr 2026.
Gap: concurrent →
May 2026
ABCeX
Floors 3, 28, 52. $11B+. $355M sanctioned exposure. UK-designated (OFAC has not acted).
Gap: already running →
Jul 2025 –
AEXBit
Same wallets. Same Telegram. NOT designated — not as entity, not as alias. Still accessible May 2026.
2024 –
A7 / A7A5
State project. $93.3B trading volume (2025). 49% Promsvyazbank. ~15% of Russian cross-border transactions. Putin attended branch opening.
OFAC-sanctioned
UK-sanctioned (May 2026)
NOT designated (gap)
A7 network (state project)
Source: OFAC SDN, UK FCDO (May 26, 2026), TRM Labs, Elliptic, Chainalysis. CrimsonVector 2026.