Ruble-Backed A7A5 Stablecoin Moves $9.3B on Sanctioned Russian Exchange Successor Grinex

A7A5, a stablecoin pegged to the Russian ruble, has processed over $9.3 billion in transactions on Grinex, a crypto exchange widely viewed as the successor to the sanctioned platform Garantex.

According to the Financial Times, the bulk of these transactions originated from just 124 wallets, raising questions about the nature of the token’s usage.

In March, Global Ledger alleged that operators of the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex have moved liquidity and customer funds to Grinex, which it described as the platform’s “full-fledged successor.”

Elliptic Flags A7A5 Transfers as Likely Internal Fund Movements

Analysts from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic told the paper that many of the transfers followed “rigid fixed patterns,” hinting at internal fund movement rather than organic adoption.

While Grinex has denied direct links to Garantex, evidence suggests the platform may have absorbed some of its clientele.

“Garantex users with outstanding balances at the time it was shut down could have these balances credited to new accounts set up on Grinex,” said Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson.

Garantex was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury and hit with a $27 million USDT freeze by Tether earlier this year.

Currently, A7A5 is listed only on Uniswap and has a market cap of $151 million, with roughly 12 million tokens in circulation.

‼️Compliance alert: #Garantex founders launch a new platform

1/ Following Garantex’s shutdown and #Tether freezing its wallets, the founders have launched Grinex. Here’s what we’ve uncovered 👇 pic.twitter.com/m28einnisn

— Global Ledger Alerts (@GlobalLedger) March 19, 2025

It is traded not only against the Russian ruble but also against major stablecoins like USDT and even U.S. dollars, according to Grinex’s Telegram channel.

The company behind A7A5 claims the token is fully backed 1:1 by ruble reserves held at Promsvyazbank, a Moscow-based bank under Western sanctions due to its role in Russia’s military financing.

Despite its controversial rise, A7A5 has attracted approximately 24,000 holders, based on data from Etherscan and Tronscan.

However, analysts remain skeptical of its broader adoption, noting the concentrated transaction activity and opaque origins of many flows.

Adding to the intrigue is A7A5’s alleged political connection. The Centre for Information Resilience has reported links between the stablecoin and Ilan Shor, a Moldovan businessman and sanctioned political figure convicted of fraud.

Although A7A5 claims to have severed ties with the Shor-related A7 project in May, Shor was seen promoting the stablecoin at Russia’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June.

Archetyp Market Shut Down in Europol Raid

In June, Europol dismantled one of the dark web’s longest-running marketplaces, Archetyp Market, following coordinated raids across six countries.

In a similar incident, the US law enforcement seized crypto linked to BidenCash, the infamous dark web marketplace, accused of selling over 15 million stolen credit cards and personal data.

The international operation took down around 145 darknet and traditional internet domains associated with the marketplace.

Additionally, the DOJ recently seized over $24 million in cryptocurrency from a Russian national accused of developing and operating the Qakbot malware.