U.S. Cracks Down: Sanctions Hit Crypto Network Behind Ruble-Backed Stablecoin and Defunct Exchange Garantex

The U.S. government just dropped the hammer—blacklisting a crypto network tied to a Ruble-backed stablecoin and the shuttered Garantex exchange. Here’s why it matters.

Stablecoin in the Crosshairs

Washington isn’t playing nice with crypto projects linked to sanctioned economies. The Ruble-pegged stablecoin? Now radioactive.

Garantex Ghosted

The exchange folded months ago, but regulators are still mopping up—adding it to the OFAC naughty list post-mortem. Talk about kicking a dead horse.

Why This Moves Markets

Another day, another crypto project learning the hard way: play with sanctioned regimes, get the Treasury’s boot. Meanwhile, Wall Street’s still waiting for that ‘institutional adoption’ to offset the regulatory whack-a-mole.

Crypto rails to evade sanctions

A7A5 has grown rapidly this year, processing about $1 billion a day by July, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic's report. The firm said the token underpins a "sanctions evasion scheme" enabling Russian companies to settle cross-border payments outside the traditional banking system.

Chainalysis estimated the token’s cumulative transaction volume exceeded $51 billion through July, warning it offers "a new, crypto-native avenue to bypass the ever-tightening sanctions against Russia."

"The emergence of the A7A5 network sanctioned today further illustrates how Russia is operationalizing these alternative payment rails," the firm said.