Sanctioned A7A5 bumps yields on stablecoin holdings

The Russian ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5 has increased yields on stored tokens, according to reports providing a glimpse into how the cryptocurrency actually works.

The news comes against the backdrop of talks on fresh European sanctions targeting Russian crypto platforms and banks in Kyrgyzstan, where its issuer is registered.

A7A5 offers holders 15% annual interest

Keeping A7A5 coins in a wallet will yield 15% per annum, following a recent increase, the project legitimized by Russia and targeted by the West, announced.

Users are now being paid almost all of the income generated by the cryptocurrency through overnight placements, local crypto media reported.

A7A5 is pegged 1:1 to the Russian national fiat and is backed by bank deposits. The yield varies and has been set now to one percentage point below the Bank of Russia’s key rate, currently standing at 16%.

Income is accrued automatically through its rebase mechanism, the leading Russian crypto news outlet Bits.media explained in a post on Tuesday.

The digital token operates on the blockchains of Ethereum and Tron. It’s traded on both centralized and decentralized exchanges, RBC Crypto noted in a report.

At the same time, A7A5 funds are stored in their users’ personal wallets, without transferring them to a custodial platform.

The token can be freely bought in Moscow, at the branches of the company A7 Finance, and through the project’s website. The minimum purchase amount is 100 coins.

A7A5 transactions are subject to certain caps. Withdrawals are limited to 600 tokens, and the maximum monthly transaction volume is 600,000.

The issuer claims its token is designed to serve as a tool to manage ruble liquidity in the crypto space, thanks to its automatic income accrual and the ability to circulate the coins at any time.

Unlike bank deposits or many DeFi solutions, A7A5 funds remain permanently available for transfer, exchange, or withdrawal, its team highlighted.

Rise of a Russian ruble stablecoin

A7A5 was launched in February 2025. Developed by the Russian company A7, it’s actually issued by an entity registered and regulated in Kyrgyzstan, Old Vector, which claims to be “fully independent.”

According to data released earlier by DeFiLlama, its capitalization exceeds $500 million, with more than 39 billion tokens in circulation. A7A5 accounts for nearly half of the non-dollar stablecoin market.

In September, financial authorities in Moscow classified it as a digital financial asset (DFA) under local law, which allows Russian businesses to use it for cross-border settlements in foreign trade.

Since its very beginning, A7A5 has been suspected of being used by Russian actors to circumvent Western financial restrictions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.

Both A7, owned by Moldovan oligarch and Russian citizen Ilan Shor, and Old Vector have been hit with sanctions, alongside other entities associated with the stablecoin, including the Kyrgyzstan-based exchange Grinex.

The latter is the alleged successor of the Russian crypto trading platform Garantex, which was dismantled in March 2025, and took over the processing of A7A5 withdrawals from it.

Its transactions are also processed by Tokeon, a digital asset platform part of the PSB Group of the state-owned Russian bank formerly known as Promsvyazbank. A7A5 is supposedly backed by deposits at the PSB, which is also sanctioned.

According to data compiled and released recently by the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the rubble-pegged stablecoin has processed transactions worth over $100 billion within the first year of its existence.

Meanwhile, the European Union is preparing to slap new sanctions on crypto platforms linked to Russia. Organizations based in third countries will also be affected, including two Kyrgyz banks accused of processing crypto-related transactions for Russian entities.