ZachXBT: Russian OTC broker suspected of assisting ransomware gang in laundering $4.7 million

Russian OTC broker Aleksandr Khinkis (Aleks) is suspected of assisting a ransomware gang in money laundering since July 2025, transferring over $4.7 million through a single cryptocurrency exchange account, involving three payments totaling 796 BTC.

Investigators disguised as potential clients on Telegram and successfully obtained his exchange deposit address (0xa756…0706e). On-chain forensic analysis shows that the related funds were bridged via Bitcoin to the Avalanche network, with a total of 75 transfers flowing into that address; among them, a payment involving 164 BTC in October 2025, approximately $3.8 million, was exchanged through an instant exchange and flowed to the Tron network. The related 7 Tron addresses were blacklisted by Tether in November 2025.