A Kremlin-backed cryptocurrency system has been moving money at a scale that rattles regulators. At least $6 billion has passed through it since August after the U.S. sanctioned some of its players. This is tied to A7A5, a stablecoin sitting at the center of Russia’s cross-border payments network. The token belongs to A7, a parallel system created after Moscow’s banks were cut off from the U.S.-led financial order following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. According to a Financial Times analysis, more than 80 percent of A7A5’s supply was destroyed and instantly recreated to wipe links to a sanctioned exchange called Grinex, showing how the network reshaped itself after the U.S. move. Washington blacklisted Grinex in August, calling it an alleged successor to Garantex, a crypto exchange the U.S. shut down in March for “hacking, ransomware, terrorism and drug trafficking.” Grinex has denied that connection. Yet the day after sanctions hit, administrators of A7A5 emptied two wallets tied to Grinex that held 33.8 billion tokens worth $405 million, using an instruction called “destroyBlackFunds” to label the assets as “dirtyShares”. New tokens for the same amount were then created in a fresh wallet, breaking the trace between old and new funds. Move billions with new wallets and destroy old funds The new wallet, named TNpJj, has since handled $6.1 billion in transactions.This tactic is not a simple transfer but a full reset of the coins, making it harder to link blacklisted tokens to clean ones. On March 10, 4.5 billion A7A5 tokens moved between four wallets in ten minutes in an effort to route funds back to Grinex after U.S. action against Garantex.On May 6, one of these wallets funded a new address, TChBA. On August 14, the U.S. sanctioned two wallets, one tied to Garantex and the other to Grinex. By August 15, funds in TChBA were destroyed and re-minted in TNpJj. On September 2, the same pattern repeated as TAhi7’s funds shifted into TNpJj, which by then had moved about $6 billion in A7A5 tokens. The activity on TNpJj mirrors older wallets. It shared 11 counterparties and executes transfers during Moscow working hours, peaking between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. local time with little movement overnight or on weekends. A7A5’s chatbot operates “weekdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Moscow time,” and clients can buy the token in cash at the “over-the-counter section of Grinex” inside a Moscow skyscraper. Garantex previously used the same address — Federation Tower, 14th floor. Russia formalizes A7A5 and builds global alternative payment system A7A5 runs on Tron and Ethereum blockchains. Its operators appear to have learned from Garantex’s takedown, when Tether froze $28 million tied to Garantex wallets. The coin is registered in Kyrgyzstan, which Moscow calls a “friendly” jurisdiction.Its issuer, Old Vector, was also blacklisted by the U.S. in August.Last week Russia granted A7A5 formal digital financial asset status. Exporters and importers can now use it officially through a platform owned by Promsvyazbank, which backs each token with a rouble. Promsvyazbank, a state-owned defense lender already under sanctions, holds a 49 percent stake in the A7 network, which is expanding to Africa. The bank’s chief executive Petr Fradkov told President Vladimir Putin, “we are creating a system of cross-border settlements based on A7.” The network has also received large loans from VEB, a Russian state development bank. A7’s majority owner and chief executive Ilan Șor, a fugitive Moldovan oligarch living in Moscow, claims the network has moved more than $86 billion in 10 months. Two financial professionals told the Financial Times the A7 network may already represent a significant part of Russia’s cross-border payments market. Besides crypto, A7 also handles payments via promissory notes. The Centre for Information Resilience, a London-based research group, said “A7 is expanding at rapid pace funded in large part by loans from Russian state institutions” and predicted Russia’s war economy will raise the network’s “political significance” in enabling exports. In June, an A7A5 representative told the FT they had only “co-operated with the technical team of A7 at the early stage” and then “decided to separate completely” in May. Șor told Kommersant last month, “we’ve created a transparent and honest business: we pay taxes and operate openly,” and said other countries are showing interest in this “alternative payment system that is beneficial for the Russian state.” Sign up to Bybit and start trading with $30,050 in welcome gifts
