# Gorshok

Category: exchanges · Instant Swaps
Grade: C
Highlights: NO-KYC, OBLIVION-MODE, TELEGRAM-BOT, MULTILINGUAL, AML-SCREENING
Web: https://gorshok.io/
Contact: Email: support@gorshok.io · X: https://x.com/Gorshok_io · Telegram: https://t.me/BC_LZT
Last verified: 2026-07-09
Operating since: 2022-11 (4y) — Business claims manual-Telegram origin Nov 2022; current gorshok.io website launched Q1 2026. Track record on the current infrastructure is ~6 months.
Also listed at: Monerica

> No-KYC instant swap (RU/EN/UK). XMR pair, 100+ directions, Oblivion Mode ephemeral session, user-choice AML fork (no ID demand), transparent 2022-manual → 2026-web history.

## Review

**What it is.** Gorshok is a no-KYC crypto exchange operated by a Russian-founded team, positioning as *"an honest and predictable exchange service you're not ashamed to recommend."* Site is trilingual (Russian / English / Ukrainian). Advertised at 100+ swap directions including a first-class XMR pair (confirmed in the currency picker: XMR ↔ USDT-ERC20, BTC, and others). Fixed + floating rates, optional account, public API on the roadmap. Ships with a distinctive **Oblivion Mode** — an ephemeral no-log session UI ("Nothing is saved or recorded while you're here — complete anonymous freedom of action") that is unusual to see explicitly surfaced on a swap exchange.

**Operator narrative.** Gorshok's own `/about` page publishes a 4-milestone history + a "who builds Gorshok" panel: **2022-11 manual Telegram-only launch → 2025-09 first Telegram bot → 2025-11 website build → Q1 2026 core launch of gorshok.io → 2026+ ecosystem (public API + mobile apps).** The current *website* is only ~6 months old; the *business* is claimed to be from Nov 2022 as a manual Telegram operation. The operator does not hide this — the About page states it explicitly. The team framing: *"a small team of developers and product people who use crypto every day and hate magic black boxes"* with an explicit refusal to become an all-in-one super app.

**Peer signal.** A Monero-focused peer directory currently flags Gorshok as **❓ Questionable** with the note *"claims to be from 2022 but site is from 2026."* That note is technically accurate but reads harsher than the operator's own transparent disclosure of the manual-2022 → website-2026 trajectory. We surface the peer's flag honestly here and note that our own read of the operator's public surface came out materially more positive on this specific point.

**Grade C on publish.** New to xmr.club and only ~6 months on the current website infrastructure. Exchange tenure floor per our methodology — this is a high-loss-asymmetric category regardless of how honest the public surface looks. Grade movement: (a) 90-day clean track record on the current site + a curator-executed round-trip test-swap that completes without any late-stage surprises → lift toward B; (b) any incident, exit-scam pattern, or emergence of shotgun-KYC behaviour → immediate downgrade.

**How AML screening actually works.** Gorshok's own FAQ answer is verbatim: *"In most cases the exchange happens automatically. To protect users and comply with international standards we screen every transaction for AML, but **we do not perform KYC and do not request documents**. If a transaction is flagged as high-risk, **you decide**: refund the deposit or continue the exchange with an increased fee."* — This is address-blacklist / risk-scoring screening followed by a **user-choice fork**, not the shotgun-KYC pattern where funds are held pending document verification. No ID demand, no source-of-funds request, no frozen-funds threat. That is materially better than the industry norm for "AML" language, and worth calling out.

**Caveats.**
- **Only ~6 months** on the current gorshok.io infrastructure. The manual-Telegram-2022 origin is honest but not directly transferable — the exchange-under-a-website is what we grade against.
- **Peer-directory Questionable flag** on file. We do not endorse that flag but you should factor it into your own trust posture.
- **No curator round-trip test-swap on record yet** — grade lift toward B is gated on that (plus the 90-day clean-track-record window).

Source: https://xmr.club/exchanges/gorshok