Russia moves $9 billion via crypto assets
A new cryptocurrency token, A7A5, set up by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, is being used to circumvent international sanctions against Russia, Financial Times reported on June 25.
According to the report, transactions using the token have totaled $9.3 billion.
A7A5 is billed as a “stablecoin,” meaning that its value is pegged to the Russian ruble. It was launched in February in Kyrgyzstan to ease Russia’s financial operations that have been hampered by international restrictions.
Transactions are processed through the cryptocurrency exchange Grinex, also recently established in Kyrgyzstan. Analysis of digital wallets associated with the exchange shows that transfers involving A7A5 have reached $9.3 billion.
According to the FT, A7A5 is backed by ruble deposits held at Moscow’s Promsvyazbank—a bank serving Russia’s defense sector that has been sanctioned by the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. About 12 billion tokens are in circulation—roughly equivalent to $156 million—and they are used by a relatively small number of people.
A report from the London-based nonprofit research organization Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) suggests that A7A5 could be linked to Moscow’s efforts to use cryptocurrencies to finance overseas political influence campaigns.
Russian corporate records show that the company A7—responsible for launching the token and now under Western sanctions—is owned by Ilan Shor. Shor fled Moldova in 2019 after being convicted of stealing $1 billion in what was described as the country’s largest banking fraud. He then moved to Moscow and obtained Russian citizenship. In 2023, a Moldovan court convicted him in absentia to 15 years in prison.
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