The Japanese government has put Garantex, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Russia, on its sanctions list against Russia. Japan gave the ongoing war in Ukraine as its reason. Cointelegraph reported the move on Oct 4, 2026.
Japan is not the first to act against Garantex. The United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions had already sanctioned the exchange, saying it helped Russian entities get around financial restrictions. Garantex was added as part of a wider expansion of Japan's sanctions on Russia.
The report does not say what the Japanese measures require in practice, when they take effect, or whether Garantex has responded. Those points are not yet known.
For anyone already holding a perpetual position on Bitget, Bybit, MEXC or OKX, nothing changes directly. The report does not mention any of these four exchanges, and it describes no change to funding rates, trading fees or liquidity on them.
Source: cointelegraph — Japan adds Garantex to list of Russia sanctions over Ukraine war