A network of cryptographic wallets connected to Russian entities linked to the State helped move more than $ 8 billion in digital assets to avoid western sanctions, according to a September 26 report of the Blockchain Elliptic analysis firm.
The findings are based on a recently leaked data treasure that expose how the sanctioned Russian companies were based on the stable, particularly the Tether USDT, to maintain cross -border trade.
Elliptical tracked many of these transactions to companies controlled by Ilan Shor, a mild -sanctioned and ally fugitive of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Shor, which remains under the sanctions of the United States, used digital assets to maintain financial life lines for the restricted Russian entities of the global banking system.
At the beginning of September, Shor told Putin during an online conference that his company, A7, had facilitated 7.5 billion rubles ($ 89 billion) in international payments for ten months, more than half of whom involved Asian partners. Elliptical data confirmed that wallets linked to A7 received more than $ 8 billion in Stablecoin tickets in the last 18 months.
Founded in 2024, A7 was designed to help Russian companies evade sanctions and perform cross -border settlements. The company is owned by 49% of Promsvyazbank (PSB), a Russian state bank that serves the defense sector.
PSB and A7 remain under the sanctions of the United States due to their links with the war economy.
Change to Stablecoin backed by ruble
According to Elliptic, the filtered internal messages revealed the great A7 dependence on USDT for treasure operations and payments.
In one case, an A7 employee requested a transfer of 2 million USDT, exposing a wallet that had prosecuted approximately $ 677 million in operations.
However, Tether’s ability to freeze sanctioned wallets became a responsibility earlier this year when regulators closed guarantor, an exchange with Russia headquarters and froze $ 26 million in USDT.
As a result, the Shor network reviewed its wallet infrastructure in August 2025. The company began to promote its own Rublo’s stable, A7A5, as a solution to centralized Tether controls.
However, this effort has not produced substantial progress since the digital asset has only $ 496 million in supply and has prosecuted approximately $ 68 billion in transactions.
