Ruble-Backed A7A5 Tops $100B in Transactions; Iran Acquired $507M in USDT, Reports Say

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that Russia’s ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 processed more than $100 billion in transactions in under a year. The token was launched in January 2025 by Russia-based cross-border payments firm A7 LLC and the issuer says it is backed 1:1 by ruble deposits held at state-owned Promsvyazbank (PSB) ^[1].

Elliptic also found that Iran’s central bank acquired at least $507 million in Tether’s USDT during 2025 to help defend the rial; the purchases were traced to April–May 2025, routed through the UAE and recorded on public blockchains with payments in Emirati dirhams ^[2][3].

A separate community post on Reddit has linked roughly $500 million in Iranian-held USDT to funds reportedly stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit; that connection is presented as a crypto-sleuth finding and not an institutional confirmation ^[4].

Together, the reports document substantial stablecoin activity tied to state-linked actors, highlighting the growing role of dollar- and ruble-pegged tokens in cross-border finance, including uses described as supporting currency stability and evading Western sanctions ^[1][2].