Historically, international demand for the Russian ruble has been weak. But a stable currency linked to the country’s currency is having a moment – and becoming an important part of conferences outside the Western sphere of influence.
Although Russia is one of the world’s largest energy exporters, accounting for more than 10% of the world’s oil supply, most of this trade is settled in dollars, euros or, increasingly, Chinese renminbi. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) does not list any ruble currency pairs among major foreign exchange transactions, reflecting how marginal the currency has become in global markets.
Yet in 2025, a ruble-backed stablecoin called A7A5 emerged as one of the most geopolitically charged crypto projects of the year, a tool designed not for global investors but for an economy under sanctions and seeking new financial plumbing.
The strength of the ruble this year has been one of the most counterintuitive market stories. Despite sanctions, weak growth and falling oil prices, the currency has surged more than 40% against the dollar, making it the world’s best-performing currency, driven almost entirely by political engineering rather than fundamentals.
Russia’s central bank has kept interest rates above 20%, imposed strict capital controls and forced exporters to repatriate and convert their foreign earnings, boosting demand for rubles. At the same time, the collapse of imports reduced foreign exchange requirements. The result is a tightly managed rally that looks powerful on paper but remains fragile underneath.
This organized rally also explains why a ruble-pegged stablecoin suddenly makes sense in Russia’s warped financial system.
With domestic foreign exchange markets shrinking, offshore settlement channels strained, and exporters forced to recycle foreign earnings into rubles, a blockchain-based ruble offers a parallel rail that can move value where banks no longer reliably can. The A7A5 fits perfectly into this gap: it reflects a currency supported in the country while providing a cross-border instrument that avoids the friction, visibility and risk of sanctions of the traditional banking sector.
When A7A5 sponsored Token2049 in Singapore, its presence revealed how porous global sanctions regimes can be. The sponsorship was technically legal because Singapore’s restrictions only bind licensed financial institutions and Token2049 is organized by a Hong Kong entity (China has no sanctions against Russia).
Despite this, the optics caused alarm. Several companies told CoinDesk that the situation was a compliance nightmare, and the A7A5 brand was quietly removed from the conference website, even as it continued to promote its role online.
But geopolitical discomfort has not slowed down the project’s ambitions. Oleg Ogienko, the public face of A7A5, spoke at India Blockchain Week earlier this month.
India is a geopolitically non-aligned country and one of the largest buyers of Russian oil, making its presence both unsurprising and symbolically appropriate for a stable currency designed to operate in the gray areas of global finance.
