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Points of Focus
- A7A5 has reached nearly $140 billion in lifetime turnover, according to PSB chairman Pyotr Fradkov.
- The wider A7 platform serves about 15,000 regular business clients and processes up to 2,000 payments per day.
- Elliptic said A7A5 average daily onchain volume fell 96% from its July 2025 peak.
The Russian ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 has reached nearly $140 billion in turnover since its launch in early 2025, according to Promsvyazbank (PSB) chairman Pyotr Fradkov, giving Russia-linked payment infrastructure unusual scale among non-dollar stablecoins.
Fradkov told RBC that A7A5 was created as part of A7, the cross-border settlement platform developed by PSB. The wider A7 platform has about 15,000 regular business clients and processes up to 2,000 payments per day. A7 previously said around 90% of its payments involve Asian countries, with China accounting for the largest share.
A7A5 sits inside a wider payment network
A7A5 is pegged 1:1 to the ruble and issued by Kyrgyzstan-based Old Vector. The token is backed by ruble deposits at PSB and is used within A7’s cross-border settlement infrastructure.
Russia’s restricted access to international banking has increased demand for alternative settlement routes. A7 combines the token with settlement centers, financial partners, and legal entities across several jurisdictions. Fradkov said the structure allows the platform to continue processing payments when individual routes face restrictions.
More recent onchain analysis points to an even steeper contraction. Crystal Intelligence said position-changing transfer volume had fallen from about $65 million per day to below $8 million per day by late July, 97% below its March peak. The firm also found that 94.5% of A7A5’s Tron supply was concentrated in a single wallet.
Onchain activity has dropped sharply
The $140-billion figure is cumulative turnover reported by PSB. Independent blockchain data points to much lower current A7A5 activity.
Elliptic tracked more than $102 billion in A7A5 transfers across roughly 251,000 transactions during the token’s first year. Average daily volume fell to $24.3 million in June 2026, down 96% from its July 2025 peak. The analytics company also found no new token minting since July 2025.
PSB’s turnover estimate and Elliptic’s onchain transfer data use different methodologies. Fradkov did not publish a breakdown of the $140-billion figure, while Elliptic measures transactions visible on public blockchains. Public data does not show how much of A7’s current payment activity is running through A7A5.
Sanctions target the network around A7A5
The US Treasury sanctioned A7, Old Vector, and related entities in August 2025. The Treasury described A7 as a cross-border settlement platform used for sanctions evasion and said Old Vector issued A7A5. The UK later sanctioned Old Vector and other infrastructure connected to the token.
Elliptic links the fall in activity to sanctions, tighter Russian crypto rules, and reduced exchange access. The wider A7 platform remains active, according to Fradkov, and continues processing payments for business customers.
Liquidity and exchange access will determine how much of A7A5’s early scale survives. Its nearly $140 billion in lifetime turnover shows the demand that alternative payment rails can attract under financial restrictions; the 96% fall in recent onchain volume shows how quickly that activity can weaken when access points disappear.
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