A recent study emphasizes the increasing use of cryptocurrencies in the country of Russia and other Russian-speaking regions, with expanding preference for similar stablecoin alternatives despite the continues sanctions and financial restrictions.
The research appears that many Russians preferred to use ruble-pegged A7A5 as an alternative to dollar-backed stablecoin such as Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). Based on the survey conducted out of 1,000 respondents, 53.7 identified A7A5 as the main alternatives to Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC).
A7A5 currently holds a share for non-dollar stablecoin markets of approximately 41% in 2026 or about $550 million. It competed with EURC pegged which accounts for around 32% of the market issued by Circle.
The A7A5 is issued by a Kyrgyzstan-registered platform known as Old Vector and supported by ruble deposits at the Russian PSB Bank. Meanwhile, A7 project is a majority-owned by the Moldovan oligarch with a Russian passport holder Ilan Shor.
Furthermore, the early launch of A7 in 2025 is also claimed to have developed the cryptocurrency over $100 billion in transactions.
Stablecoin associated with Kyrgyz-based exchange Grinex has been derived due to sanctions-related concerns. The platform has been linked with attempts to bypass financial limitations mandated following Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine.
In March 2025, Grinex, knows as the successor of Garantex, was shut down in a U.S. enforcement operation when Tether froze approximately $27 million worth of USDT on the crypto trading platform.
The research also found that both citizens and firms in Russia have been targeting for other cryptocurrencies and payment models to keep on engaging with other trades amidst the measures against Moscow.
Increasing Use of Cryptocurrencies Among Firms In Russia
Based on the survey, over half of respondents, 57.4% have shown that firms are using digital assets. Meanwhile, 96.3% leveraged from practical applications.
Most of the respondents, 56%, store their cryptocurrency funds in non-custodial wallets while the remaining 38.6% are chosen to use centralized exchanges.
The total of two-thirds of the polls reported that they held cryptocurrency for three years, amidst markets fluctuations, the outcome claimed by RIA Novosti, RBC and the firms daily Vedomosti showed.
The investment is currently the most use case for 25.5%, while 19.9% are allocated for crypto to save money. 26.5% are placed in trading and 17.3% spends coins across payment borders.
In this support, the researcher emphasized that cryptocurrency accounts for a major share of portfolios: 56.7% hold more than 30% of their assets, and 22.7% hold between 27% and 100%.
The significant earnings from cryptocurrency by over a quarter based on the research is Bitcoin, which is 25.6%, subsequent by altcoins of about 21.1% and Tether by 16.4%.
The research targeted an active participant such as Russian speaking market from Russia and beyond its region. The average respondent age was 36.3 years, with a majority composed of men with higher education over 73.4% and average of above-average income of 76.3%.
Russia’s cryptocurrency market is more on targeting the major cities including the capital Moscow and the other part of Moscow Oblast of about 37.9% based on polled, and St. Peterburg around 10.7%, with remaining amount allocated among different regions.
Marginally above 9% of respondents are from abroad, such as 1.8% in Belarus and 1% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A lower share of 0.8% are from Soviet republics of Georgia and Kazakhstan, similarly with Thailand and Turkey with 0.5%, respectively.