US sanctions Russian Ruble stablecoin issuer A7A5

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned multiple Russian entities and individuals for their role in sanctions evasion. In its latest Specially Designed National list update, the agency included multiple entities connected to Ruble-pegged stablecoins.

Topping the list is A7 LLC and its subsidiaries, which shows that the US has finally taken notice of the company behind the popular Ruble stablecoin A7A5.  According to the announcement, the company and its subsidiaries, such as A7 Agent and A71, pose secondary sanctions risk under the Ukraine/Russia-related Sanctions Regulation.

A7 LLC is the creator of the A7A5  and has been around since 2024. The company, founded in 2024, is jointly owned by Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor and the Russian state-owned defense sector bank, Promsvyazbank (PSB).  Interestingly, PSB is already on the OFAC list.

Since launching in Kyrgyzstan in 2025, the stablecoin has become the most used Ruble-backed token. According to a report from on-chain analytics firm Elliptic on A7A5, A7A5 has seen transfer volume of up to $41.2 billion since launching, and its market cap has surged, reaching $521 million.

The firm noted that more than $1 billion is being transferred daily through the stablecoin, with its exchange volume over $8.5 billion. Interestingly, on-chain analysts have identified that most of its liquidity is on two exchanges, Meer and Grinex, although it is also available on decentralized exchanges on the TRON and Ethereum blockchains.

With the US sanctioning A7, it joins other countries, including the United Kingdom and the European Union, that have already sanctioned A7 in May and July, respectively. Interestingly, OFAC also sanctioned Old Vector LLC, which is the Kyrgyzstan-based issuer of the A7A5 stablecoin.

Garantex founder added to OFAC list

Meanwhile, the US OFAC also added Sergey Mendelev to its sanctions list. Mendelev is the co-founder of Garantex, a crypto exchange that is already on the OFAC list for sanctions evasion. Garantex mostly used Tether USDT, and the US Secret Service seized the exchange website in March 2025, freezing $26 million worth of USDT and charging its administrators with money laundering.

Interestingly, the Garantex incident and the freezing of USDT were key reasons behind the growth of A7A5, with Russian entities seeking to evade sanctions turning to a more secure option instead of the easily frozen USDT. Medelev is also the creator of Ruble-backed stablecoin RUBT.

Entities connected to Medelev also got sanctioned. These include Exved, a cross-border payment platform for Russian exporters and importers. The platform, which claims to process tens of billions of rubles in transactions monthly, uses USDT and hides its connection to Russian users.

Others on the OFAC list include Indefi Smartbank, a crypto entity providing technical services to Exved and Grinex, the crypto exchange experts believe replaced Garantex. Grinex was also one of the major exchanges for A7A5 stablecoin volume.

Stablecoins still thriving despite connections to sanctions evasion

Meanwhile, the recent sanctions on entities and individuals using stablecoins to help Russia evade sanctions have not had any major effect on the stablecoin sector. Even with analysts identifying the use of USDT in many such transactions, there has been no allegation of wrongdoing against Tether.

If anything, the stablecoin sector has been thriving, with the market cap growing by $2.882 billion in the last seven days alone. Circulating supply for stablecoins has now reached $271.62 billion, with USDT alone having $164.86 billion.

While Circle USDC has only $65.22 billion, the stablecoin issuer recently announced plans to launch its own Layer-1 blockchain network, just as fintech giant Stripe disclosed similar plans.

Other stablecoins such as Ethena USDe, Paypal PYUSD,  Ripple RLUSD, and Skydollar USDS have all seen substantial growth ranging from 105% to 16.23% in the past 30 days, according to data from Defillama. Interestingly, the A7A5 supply has also increased by 100% within that period, even though it is now below $500 million.

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