A new rouble-pegged cryptocurrency, A7A5, has quietly become a potent tool in Russia’s efforts to circumvent Western sanctions — moving $9.3bn in transactions within four months of its February launch.
Russia’s shadow stablecoin
Behind the project is a cast of sanctioned banks, fugitive oligarchs, and a crypto exchange that appears to have risen from the ashes of another US-sanctioned Russian platform.
The result: a digital payments infrastructure that is shifting the geography of illicit finance.
A7A5
Officially launched in Kyrgyzstan, A7A5 positions itself as the first stablecoin tied to the Russian rouble.
Its stated aim is to offer Russian importers and businesses a reliable bridge between the domestic financial system and the global cryptocurrency ecosystem — notably through Tether’s USDT.
The stablecoin’s issuer claims that each token is backed one-to-one by rouble reserves held at Promsvyazbank, a major Russian lender that has been blacklisted by the US, UK, and EU for its role in funding Russia’s military operations.
At the heart of the operation is Ilan Șor, a Moldovan businessman convicted of orchestrating the largest bank fraud in his country’s history.
Now a Russian citizen, Șor controls A7 — the company behind A7A5 — which was sanctioned by the UK in May.
Investigators from the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) have found digital links between the A7A5 ecosystem and disinformation campaigns aimed at Moldova, raising alarms about the coin’s political utility.
Exclusive Trade in Roubles
The coin’s technical hub is Grinex, a recently formed crypto exchange in Kyrgyzstan that trades exclusively in A7A5, roubles, and USDT.
CIR and blockchain analysts suggest Grinex is the de facto successor to Garantex — a Russian crypto exchange that facilitated over $60bn in transactions before it was shut down by US authorities in March.
Days before that closure, large volumes of funds moved from Garantex wallets into A7A5 tokens and were later traced to Grinex-linked wallets.
Grinex denies any affiliation with Garantex, insisting it is an independent entity seizing market opportunity.
But FT analysis of blockchain data suggests otherwise: over $9bn has flowed through wallets connected to Grinex via A7A5, often in rigid patterns typical of internal banking operations.
Transfers occur almost exclusively during Moscow working hours, bolstering suspicions of Russian institutional involvement.
The timing is no accident.
Russia has long explored creating a native stablecoin to sidestep dependence on dollar-based crypto assets like USDT, which are vulnerable to Western regulatory pressure.
The freezing of $23mn in Russian-linked USDT by Tether earlier this year underscored this risk and prompted renewed efforts to establish sovereign alternatives.
By operating in Kyrgyzstan — a jurisdiction with limited exposure to Western sanctions — A7A5 exploits regulatory arbitrage.
Its stated mission of “financial sovereignty” masks what experts believe is a sophisticated mechanism to sustain trade and political influence amid growing financial isolation.
While the true nature and scope of the A7A5 system remain opaque, its emergence marks a significant evolution in sanctions evasion.
As stablecoins become more entrenched in the geopolitical economy, regulators will face mounting challenges in tracing — and containing — digital flows beyond the reach of the global financial order.
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