Sanctioned Russian Stablecoin A7A5 Faces Volume-Inflation Claims as Real Use Stays Limited

A dispute has emerged between the issuer of A7A5, a ruble-pegged stablecoin linked to Russia and under Western sanctions, and blockchain analytics firms over the token’s actual trading activity.

CoinDesk reported on July 4 that A7A5 said it processed $34.4 billion from Jan. 1 through June 17, with average daily volume of about $205 million. Oleg Ogienko, A7A5’s director for regulatory affairs, said most activity in the token takes place on decentralized finance platforms and is not properly tracked by major crypto data websites.

Blockchain analytics firms disputed those figures. Chris Keegan, an analyst at TRM Labs, said the firm’s analysis showed A7A5’s average daily volume was closer to $75 million and that activity has declined in recent months. He said about 34% of observed volume appeared to be circular fund flows intended to artificially inflate activity. Keegan also said he does not see large-scale, meaningful use outside the A7A5 issuer. The sharp drop in trading volume on weekends suggests most activity is tied to business-to-business transactions involving Grinex, a Russia-linked exchange, he added.

Tom Robinson, co-founder of blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, said A7A5’s monthly trading volume has fallen more than 90% from January levels after sanctions were imposed by the US, the European Union and the UK, and after the collapse of Grinex earlier this year. It is down 96% from its peak last year. Robinson said A7A5’s figures were consistent with Elliptic’s analysis, but masked a clear trend showing the token is effectively failing as a tool for evading sanctions on Russia.

A7A5 is a ruble-pegged stablecoin launched in Kyrgyzstan in early 2025 and backed by deposits at Promsvyazbank, a Russian state-owned lender under Western sanctions. It has faced allegations that it was developed as a means for Russia to circumvent Western sanctions. The European Union, the UK and the US imposed direct sanctions on A7A5 last year.

Caitlin Marten, a sanctions and national security specialist, said A7A5 remains confined to a Russia-linked ecosystem because most global exchanges have refused to list it under Western sanctions. Still, she said the token could be used for cross-border payments, including commodity transactions, if it is exchanged into other cryptocurrencies through Russia-linked services. CoinDesk said it could not independently verify the claims made by either A7A5 or the blockchain analytics firms.