A7A5 and $EURC We are challenging greenback-linked digital currencies such as . $USDT and $USDC In Russia and other digital asset markets.
The findings come from a new study that looked at how residents of Russia and other Russian-speaking countries use cryptocurrencies.
Licensed Russian virtual currency considered the main alternative to Tether
A7A5, which is pegged to the ruble, has become a popular choice for many Russians who prefer to use A7A5 instead of dollar-backed stablecoins.
Approximately 53.7% of 1,000 survey respondents cited Tether as their primary alternative. $USDT and Circle’s USD coin ($USDC).
The study was conducted by the Sectioned Stablecoin Project, which published the data in a report titled “Russian Cryptocurrency Market.”
According to the authors, A7A5’s share of the non-dollar stablecoin market will be approximately 41% in 2026, or approximately $550 million.
Its closest competitor is $EURCaccounting for approximately 32%. The coin is pegged 1:1 to Europe’s common currency and is issued by Circle.
The Russia-linked A7A5 is issued by a Kyrgyzstan registration platform called Old Vector and backed by Russian PSB Bank ruble deposits.
The latter is one of the organizations behind Russian payments company A7. A7 is majority-owned by Ilan Shor, a Moldovan oligarch with a Russian passport.
A7 is believed to have created this cryptocurrency, which has apparently processed well over $100 billion in transactions since its launch in early 2025.
Companies associated with stablecoins, including Kyrgyzstan-based exchange Greenex, have been targeted by Western sanctions for circumventing financial regulations imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Greenex is the successor to Galantex, a U.S.-led operation that was shut down last March when Tether froze $27 million worth of assets. $USDT on a cryptocurrency trading platform.
Russian citizens and businesses are looking for alternative cryptocurrencies and payment methods to continue cross-border trade despite measures against Russia.
More than half of Russians use cryptocurrencies for business
More than half (57.4%) of those surveyed said they use digital assets in their business activities. The majority (96.3%) utilize them to store value, among other practical applications.
More than half of respondents, almost 56%, store their crypto assets in non-custodial wallets. A further 38.6% prefer the services of a centralized exchange.
Despite market ups and downs, well over two-thirds of those surveyed said they have held cryptocurrencies for more than three years, according to results cited by RIA Novosti, RBC, and business newspaper Vedomosti.
Investing remains the most popular use case for 25.5%, with 19.9% adopting cryptocurrencies to save money. 26.5% engage in trade and 17.3% use coins for international payments. The researchers emphasized that:
“Cryptocurrencies make up a large proportion of their portfolios: 56.7% have more than 30% of their assets in cryptocurrencies, and 22.7% have between 75% and 100%.”
More than a quarter (25.6%) of survey participants consider Bitcoin (BTC) to be the most profitable cryptocurrency, followed by altcoins (21.1%). Tether is in third place (16.4%).
According to the organizers, the survey focuses on active participants in the Russian-speaking segment of the Russian-speaking market, within Russia, as well as in the regions and beyond.
Their average age is 36.3 years. The majority are men with higher education (73.4%) and above-average incomes (76.3%).
Russia’s virtual currency market is highly concentrated in major cities such as the capital Moscow and neighboring Moscow Oblast (37.9% of those surveyed) and St. Petersburg (10.7%), with the rest being divided into several regions.
Just over 9% of respondents are based overseas, including 1.8% in neighboring Belarus and 1% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A smaller proportion resides in the former Soviet Union countries of Georgia and Kazakhstan (0.8% each), and in Thailand and Turkey (0.5% each).
