Russian Ruble Stablecoin Kept Growing Despite Western Sanctions: CertiK
CertiK says ruble-backed A7A5 topped $110 billion in cumulative onchain volume and kept growing despite EU and US/UK sanctions.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
CertiK portrays A7A5 as a sanctions-resistant ruble stablecoin that has expanded quickly, reaching tens of thousands of wallets and a large share of non-US dollar stablecoin activity. The report argues its structure and banking links make it hard for Western authorities to stop.
A7A5 is like a digital coupon tied to rubles that kept being passed around even after officials tried to block it. CertiK says it stayed active because its controls and money are spread across places that Western sanctions cannot easily reach.
Analysis
What CertiK says
CertiK says the ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 has kept expanding even after Western sanctions targeted it. The firm says the token has processed more than $110 billion in cumulative onchain transactions, grown its wallet count from about 13,000 to 29,000 between February 2025 and May 2026, and captured roughly 43% of the global non-US dollar stablecoin market.
How the system is described
According to the report, A7A5 was issued in January 2025 by Old Vector LLC, a Kyrgyz company acting for Russian cross-border settlement firm A7 LLC. CertiK links A7 LLC to Ilan Shor and to Promsvyazbank, a Russian state-owned defense lender. The article says Russian authorities later recognized A7A5 under the country’s digital financial asset framework.
The piece also says the token moved $11.2 billion in A7A5/RUB volume and $6.1 billion in A7A5/USDT volume, much of it through Grinex, described as the successor to Garantex. The article ties Garantex to laundering activity involving several criminal groups and to funds linked to the 2022 Horizon Bridge hack.
Why sanctions have not fully stopped it
A CertiK analyst says the token was designed without a centralized kill switch, so freeze controls sit with Russian and Kyrgyz developers rather than Western institutions. The article adds that reserves are held in Central Asian and Russian banking networks, which places them beyond direct Western enforcement. CertiK also says the token uses DeFi liquidity pools such as Curve and Uniswap to reduce dependence on centralized exchanges.
The EU’s 19th sanctions package, adopted on Oct. 23, 2025, prohibited transactions involving A7A5 from Nov. 12, but the report argues that the token still has channels to circulate.
Key points
- CertiK says A7A5 has processed more than $110 billion in cumulative onchain volume.
- The firm says the token reached about 43% of the global non-US dollar stablecoin market.
- A7A5 was issued by Old Vector LLC in Kyrgyzstan on behalf of A7 LLC, which the article links to Ilan Shor and Promsvyazbank.
- The article says the token was designed without a centralized kill switch and relies partly on DeFi liquidity pools.
- The EU banned transactions involving A7A5 in its 19th sanctions package, but CertiK says the token still has ways to circulate.
If the report is accurate, A7A5 shows that blockchain-based settlement tools can keep working across borders even under heavy pressure. That could make it useful for users and firms in systems that want a payment rail outside the dollar-dominated stablecoin market.
The same setup also makes A7A5 a target for sanctions, exchange restrictions, and enforcement against the firms and banks around it. The article links the token to prior laundering venues and illicit flows, which raises the chance of further crackdowns and damage to counterparties.
