Ruble-Backed A7A5 Stablecoin Transfers $9.3B on Grinex, Successor to Sanctioned Russian Exchange

A7A5, a stablecoin linked to the Russian ruble, has facilitated transactions exceeding $9.3 billion on Grinex, a cryptocurrency exchange regarded as the successor to the sanctioned platform Garantex.

Key Takeaways:

• A7A5 processed $9.3B via Grinex, primarily from only 124 wallets.
• Elliptic and Global Ledger indicate that Grinex may serve as Garantex’s unofficial successor.
• Experts express concerns regarding A7A5’s adoption due to concentrated transaction flows and political affiliations.

The Financial Times reports that the majority of these transactions came from merely 124 wallets, prompting inquiries into the token’s usage patterns.

In March, Global Ledger claimed that the operators of the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex had transferred liquidity and customer assets to Grinex, labeling it as the platform’s “full-fledged successor.”

Elliptic Identifies A7A5 Transfers as Potential Internal Fund Movements

Analysts from the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic informed the publication that numerous transfers exhibited “rigid fixed patterns,” suggesting they may represent internal fund movements rather than genuine adoption.

Although Grinex has denied any direct connections to Garantex, there is evidence indicating that the platform might have taken on some of its former clients.

“Users of Garantex with outstanding balances at the time of its closure could have these balances transferred to new accounts created on Grinex,” stated Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson.

Earlier this year, Garantex was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury and faced a $27 million USDT freeze imposed by Tether.

At present, A7A5 is available solely on Uniswap and has a market capitalization of $151 million, with approximately 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, as per Grinex’s Telegram channel.

The entity behind A7A5 asserts that the token is entirely backed 1:1 by ruble reserves held at Promsvyazbank, a Moscow-based financial institution under Western sanctions due to its involvement in financing Russia’s military.

Despite its contentious emergence, A7A5 has garnered around 24,000 holders, according to data from Etherscan and Tronscan.

Nonetheless, analysts remain doubtful about its wider acceptance, pointing to the concentrated transaction activity and unclear origins of many flows.

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

Although A7A5 claims to have cut ties with the Shor-related A7 project in May, Shor was observed 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 longest-operating dark web marketplaces, Archetyp Market, following coordinated raids across six nations.

In a related event, U.S. law enforcement seized cryptocurrency associated with BidenCash, the notorious dark web marketplace, accused of selling over 15 million stolen credit cards and personal information.

The international operation resulted in the takedown of approximately 145 darknet and traditional internet domains linked to the marketplace.

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

The post Ruble-Backed A7A5 Stablecoin Moves $9.3B on Sanctioned Russian Exchange Successor Grinex appeared first on Cryptonews.