The Russian digital asset A7A5, created to circumvent international financial restrictions, has shown a rapid increase in activity during its first year of operation. Despite significant trading volumes, there is currently a decrease in demand for the token due to increased sanctions pressure from the European Union. This is reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
Details
According to data from the analytical company Elliptic, the A7A5 stablecoin, which operates on the Ethereum and Tron networks, has attracted over 41,300 unique users. The total trading volume reached $17.3 billion, and the cumulative value of all transactions since its launch crossed the $100 billion mark. However, daily volumes have recently fallen from a peak of $1.5 billion to $500 million.
Impact of European sanctions
The decline in activity is attributed to EU sanctions that came into force in November 2025. These measures prohibit any European entities from participating in transactions with the token.
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Because of this, the asset faced the problem of low liquidity. As Elliptic experts note, attempts by developers to bring A7A5 to new crypto exchanges will be complicated by the unwillingness of trading platforms to fall under secondary sanctions.
Developers and mechanisms for circumventing restrictions
The A7A5 token is a joint project of company A7, associated with fugitive Moldovan banker Ilan Shor, and the Russian state-owned Promsvyazbank. Shor's structures help Russian businesses make cross-border payments that are blocked by Western banks. These schemes also involve the Russian crypto exchange Garantex, which allows converting digital assets for settlements with international counterparties.