CoinDesk
A7A5, the ruble-pegged stablecoin issued by sanctioned Russian lender Promsvyazbank, claims to average roughly $205 million in daily trading volume and $34.4 billion processed between January 1 and June 17. Blockchain analytics firms TRM Labs and Elliptic say those numbers dramatically overstate the token's real activity, with both putting authentic daily flow closer to $75 million.
TRM Labs analyst Chris Keegan said about 34% of observed A7A5 transaction volume consists of circular fund movements that inflate the headline figure. He added that volumes routinely collapse on weekends, a pattern consistent with business-to-business transfers routed through Russia-linked exchange Grinex rather than organic market activity. Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson went further, telling CoinDesk that monthly transaction volumes have fallen more than 90% since January and are down 96% from their 2024 peak, following coordinated sanctions from the US, EU and UK and the earlier collapse of Grinex.
Why it matters
A7A5 was designed explicitly to route Russian cross-border payments outside the Western financial system, and the dispute exposes how hard it is to measure sanctions-evasion flows when the activity lives on DeFi rails rather than centralized exchanges. A7A5 director of regulatory affairs Oleg Ogienko argued that major data sites such as CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko and DeFiLlama rely too heavily on centralized exchange feeds, creating what he called a discriminatory approach to tokens like A7A5. Robinson's framing cut the other way: the cherry-picked figures conceal the trend that A7A5 is failing at its core mission of enabling sustained Russian sanctions evasion.
Market impact
Even if the higher volume number were accurate, the trajectory matters more than the snapshot. The token was sanctioned by the EU, UK and US last year and is largely confined to a Russia-linked ecosystem, with Western venues refusing to list it.
Frequently asked questions
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What is A7A5 and why is it sanctioned?
A7A5 is a ruble-pegged stablecoin issued by Promsvyazbank, a sanctioned Russian state-linked lender, and rolled out in Kyrgyzstan in early 2025. The EU, UK and US sanctioned the token last year because it was designed to route Russian cross-border payments outside the Western financial system.
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How much volume does A7A5 actually process?
A7A5 claims roughly $205 million in average daily volume and $34.4 billion processed between January 1 and June 17. TRM Labs and Elliptic dispute the figures, putting authentic daily flow closer to $75 million and flagging circular transactions that inflate headline numbers.
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Why do analytics firms think A7A5's volumes are inflated?
TRM Labs estimates about 34% of observed A7A5 transactions are circular fund movements that artificially boost activity, and notes volumes collapse on weekends, a pattern tied to business-to-business transfers through Russia-linked exchange Grinex rather than organic market use.
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How far have A7A5 volumes fallen this year?
Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson said monthly A7A5 transaction volumes have fallen more than 90% since January and are down 96% from their 2024 peak, a decline he attributes to coordinated Western sanctions and the earlier collapse of Grinex.
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How does A7A5 respond to the analytics firms' criticism?
A7A5 director of regulatory affairs Oleg Ogienko argues that CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko and DeFiLlama rely too heavily on centralized exchange data and therefore undercount DeFi activity, calling that methodology a discriminatory approach to tokens like A7A5.
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