A7A5, a ruble-pegged stablecoin used to facilitate Russian cross-border trade, has processed more than $100 billion in total transactions within its first year of operation.
Launched in January 2025, the digital asset serves as a "safe harbor" for Russian businesses to evade Western sanctions by bridging local currency into global liquidity pools.
Despite reaching this milestone, the protocol now faces a liquidity squeeze as international regulators and major DeFi platforms move to isolate the token from the broader crypto economy.
The issuer, Kyrgyzstan-based Old Vector LLC, is reportedly controlled by sanctioned Russian state-owned bank Promsvyazbank and fugitive Moldovan financier Ilan Shor.
A Bridge to USDT
A7A5 operates primarily on the Ethereum (ETH) and TRON (TRX) blockchains, allowing users to move value without the immediate risk of wallet freezes associated with dollar-backed stablecoins like USDT.
Exchange data shows that $17.3 billion in trading volume has been concentrated on the Kyrgyzstan-based Grinex exchange, where users frequently swap ruble-backed tokens for USDT.
The strategy aims to mitigate the "redemption risk" exposed in early 2025 when the U.S. Secret Service seized USDT holdings from the Russian exchange Garantex.
By maintaining internal ruble-pegged accounts, Russian firms conduct trade within a closed loop before converting to global assets only when necessary for final settlement.
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Sanctions Induce "Safe Harbor" Stagnation
While transaction counts spiked following the integration of Promsvyazbank cards in late 2025, recent evidence suggests the ecosystem is becoming siloed.
Daily transaction volumes have dropped from a peak of $1.5 billion to approximately $500 million as major decentralized exchanges, including Uniswap, began blocklisting the token.
The protocol has also introduced "Digital Promissory Notes" - physical watermark-protected instruments that users can exchange for cash via Telegram bots - to bypass traditional banking limits.
However, the sudden withdrawal of USDT liquidity by the A7A5 issuer suggests that even this shadow infrastructure is struggling to maintain the stable exit ramps required for long-term viability.
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