A7A5 Stablecoin Facilitates $9.3 Billion Transactions on Grinex

A7A5, a new Russian ruble-backed stablecoin, has emerged as a significant transaction tool on Grinex, a crypto exchange widely perceived as the successor to the sanctioned Garantex platform. Following its launch in Kyrgyzstan in February, at least $9.3 billion worth of A7A5 has moved through Grinex. Despite Grinex's repeated denials of any links to Garantex, the exchange has been accused of crediting balances to users of the sanctioned platform, which faced a $27 million USDT freeze by Tether in March. Elliptic founder Tom Robinson suggested that users of Garantex with outstanding balances at the time of its shutdown could have these balances credited to new accounts on Grinex.

Since its launch roughly four months ago, A7A5 has accumulated around 24,000 holders, according to onchain data from Etherscan and Tronscan. The stablecoin has a market capitalization of $151 million with about 12 million issued tokens and is listed exclusively on the decentralized exchange Uniswap. A7A5 is traded against stablecoins like Tether’s USDT, as well as actual US dollars, according to Grinex’s Telegram channel. The stablecoin claims to be backed 1:1 by ruble deposits held at Promsvyazbank, a Moscow-based institution sanctioned by the United States, United Kingdom and European Union due to its role in Russia’s defense sector.

The $9.3 billion A7A5 transactions with Grinex reportedly came from only 124 wallets. The true value of these transactions is unclear, as a large portion of the flows follow rigid fixed patterns, suggesting they may be part of an internal banking process. Elliptic analysts noted that the token is likely being used by a limited number of actors or services at present.

While previous reports suspected Grinex to be the direct successor of Garantex, Grinex has denied such allegations. A Grinex representative stated that the platform capitalized on market opportunities after the closure of Garantex as part of its growth strategy. The representative also mentioned that Grinex obtained a portion of the non-toxic customer base of the blocked Garantex exchange, committing only to users with a transparent history.

The alleged relationship between Grinex and Garantex is not the only speculation involving the exchange and A7A5. According to a report by the Centre for Information Resilience, A7A5 may be connected to Ilan Shor, a Moldovan political figure and businessman who is subject to sanctions and has been convicted of fraud in Moldova. Although A7A5 claimed to have cut ties with the Shor-related A7 project in May, the Moldovan tycoon appeared on a panel at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in June, promoting the A7A5 stablecoin.