A7A5 Stablecoin Made $100B Before Sanctions, Elliptic Says
A ruble-backed stablecoin linked to Russia's financial networks has done more than $100 billion in onchain transactions in less than a year, according to a new report from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
In a report published Thursday, Elliptic said the A7A5 stablecoin was designed to operate within a broader framework intended to reduce exposure to Western financial sanctions. The structure allowed Russian-linked businesses to move value in the crypto markets and limit the risk of asset freezes.
Elliptic confirmed that A7A5 activity would begin in early 2025 before slowing down in the second half of the year as sanctions and compliance measures by exchanges and token issuers began to limit its use.
Elliptic said the size and structure of the flows highlight how non-US dollar stablecoins can be designed to support sanctioned trade, and how enforcement pressures can still disrupt such systems.
A7A5's $100 billion figure and its role as a USDT bridge
Elliptic says the $100 billion figure represents the aggregate value of all A7A5 transactions recorded on public blockchains, including Ethereum and Tron.
“This is the total value of all A7A5 transfers,” Elliptic founder and chief scientist Tom Robinson told Cointelegraph.
“We do not take the objective view that each transaction constitutes a separate economic activity, although the fact that transaction fees are paid for all A7A5 transfers suggests that they all benefit the transactor.”
Elliptic's analysis shows that A7A5 is primarily acting as a bridge asset between the ruble and Tether USDT, which remains the world's largest dollar-pegged stable coin.
According to the company, the structure allowed users to move value into the USDT markets without the need for prolonged exposure to wallets vulnerable to freezing by Western authorities.
The report noted that steady coin business was concentrated in certain areas, including Kyrgyzstan-based exchanges and project-related infrastructure. This reinforces the token's role as a purpose-built settlement tool rather than a widely accepted retail stablecoin.
Related: International sanctions related to registering flows to illegal crypto addresses
Restrictive pressure and exchange control limit growth
Elliptic said stablecoin expansion slowed around mid-2025, with no major issuances and transaction volumes falling from a peak of $1.5 billion to $500 million since July.
Robinson told Cointelegraph that the August 2025 US sanctions had a very immediate and material impact on stablecoin operations.
“In August 2025, the US sanctions seem to have had the biggest impact,” Robinson said. “Immediately after the US designations, USDT liquidity for A7A5's DEX was drastically reduced, eliminating one of the key benefits of the stability coin – easy on-chain access to USDT.”
More restrictions followed when the exchanges took action. In the year In November 2025, the decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap added A7A5 to its token block list and banned trading through its web interface.
Elliptic cited reports of users being locked out by exchanges after their USDT deposits were returned to A7A5-linked wallets.
On October 23, the European Union officially sanctioned the A7A5, describing it as a tool used to circumvent financial restrictions related to Russia's war economy.
Robinson said the A7A5 trajectory demonstrates both the potential and scope of non-dollar stablecoins developed for sanctions-era finance.
“With the US dollar dominating the global economy, there are structural limits to how much such a stable coin can grow,” Cointelegraph said. “But if that changes, all bets are off.”
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