EXMO Exchange Limited
Summary
EXMO Exchange Limited is a UK-registered cryptocurrency exchange founded circa 2013 by Russian nationals Eduard Bark and Ivan Petukhovskiy. The exchange suffered a hot wallet hack in December 2020 losing approximately $10.5 million in user funds, faced multiple regulatory failures including a failed FCA registration and a UK ASA ruling for misleading advertising, and was sanctioned by the UK government on May 26, 2026 under Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 for alleged facilitation of Russian sanctions evasion via transactions with sanctioned entities Garantex, Grinex, and Chatex totaling over $19.5 million. Blockchain analysis by TRM Labs found that EXMO's claimed operational separation from its Russia-facing spinoff EXMO.me was not reflected in actual custodial wallet infrastructure.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigations- + 6 more
Timeline(11 events)
2013-01-01
EXMO Exchange founded by Russian nationals Eduard Bark and Ivan Petukhovskiy
2017-12-26
EXMO analyst Pavel Lerner kidnapped in Kyiv, Ukraine; released after approximately 102 BTC ransom reportedly paid
2018-10-01
EXMO Exchange Limited incorporated in England and Wales (company number 11655602)
2020-12-21
EXMO hot wallets hacked; approximately $10.5 million in BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, USDT, ZEC, and ETC stolen
2021-02-15
EXMO suffers massive DDoS attack generating ~30 GB/s traffic, taking exchange offline for approximately two hours
2021-03-09
EXMO announces Ledger Vault partnership to upgrade custodial security following 2020 hack
2021-12-15
UK Advertising Standards Authority issues ruling against EXMO for misleading advertising including improper use of FCA temporary registration status
2022-04-18
EXMO announces exit from Russia and Belarus, sells Russia-facing operations and EXMO.me domain to undisclosed buyer; founder Eduard Bark transfers stake to CEO Serhii Zhdanov
2023-10-06
EXMO ceases services to UK customers after failing to secure FCA registration; customers required to withdraw funds
2025-07-01
Ukraine designates Kazakhstan-registered EXMO entity under sanctions
2026-05-26
UK FCDO designates EXMO Exchange Limited under Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 as part of 18-entity A7 Network package; TRM Labs blockchain analysis cites $19.5M+ in direct transactions with sanctioned entities Garantex, Grinex, and Chatex, and finds shared custodial wallet infrastructure with EXMO.me despite claimed separation
Decision Log
- hash: J4DJnXxNj8ZsM9XLX2X2BdxSCEgCx7huHQE5NmuRZPaU
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/27/2026, 7:06:14 PM
last updated: 5/27/2026, 8:21:04 PM
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