Since August 2025, the Russian cryptocurrency platform has conducted transactions totaling over $6.1 billion through the stablecoin A7A5, despite U.S. sanctions. In August, the Kyrgyz cryptocurrency exchange Grinex and the company Old Vector, which is the issuer of the A7A5 token, fell under the restrictions. This prompted the operators of the stablecoin to liquidate and reissue most of the tokens to avoid the impact of the sanctions.
This is reported by Business • Media
Sanction Evasion Strategies and the Scale of Transfers
Following the imposition of sanctions, over 80% of A7A5 tokens were destroyed, and then the issuance was restored on a different wallet. Since then, the new wallet has conducted transactions totaling $6.1 billion, indicating the scale of operations. This scheme allowed for severing the connection between old and new accounts, making it more difficult to trace sanctioned assets.
“Unlike a standard transfer, this method breaks the link between old and new accounts, complicating the establishment of a connection between the tokens that were sanctioned and the newly created ones,” journalists explained.
The wallet’s activity demonstrated typical patterns for such cases: transfers were primarily made on weekdays and during working hours according to Moscow time. The highest number of operations was recorded between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM, while nighttime and weekend activity was minimal. The new wallet interacted with 11 counterparties.
Official Status and Role in Russian Settlements
The A7A5 stablecoin is backed by the ruble through the “Promsvyazbank” platform, which is on the sanctions lists and controls nearly half of the A7 infrastructure. As a result, A7A5 has gained official status in the Russian Federation, and the A7 project is gradually strengthening its position in the cross-border payments market. According to financial experts, the A7 network could cover a significant portion of the Russian market for international settlements, offering both cryptocurrency transfers and traditional financial instruments, including payments via promissory notes.
Earlier, in March 2025, the company Tether, the issuer of USDT, froze $28 million on addresses linked to the Garantex platform. These actions also affected related cryptocurrency structures, including Grinex.