Token2049 scrubs references to sanctioned stablecoin and ‘platinum sponsor’ A7A5: Reuters

Token2049, the organization behind the high-profile crypto conference of the same name that recently wrapped up in Singapore, scrubbed references on its website to A7A5, a stablecoin project sanctioned by the U.S. and UK, which presented at the conference and was listed as a “platinum sponsor,” according to Reuters. 

The project had a booth at the conference, according to the Reuters report, and several staff members were present. Oleg Ogienko, the project’s director of international development, spoke about the future of stablecoins, saying A7A5 holds 44% of the non-USD stablecoin market with a $1.2 billion market cap. 

The entities behind the ruble-backed A7A5 stablecoin were sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in August, which alleged the token “was created for Russian customers of A7 Limited Liability Company (A7), a Russian firm that provides cross-border settlement platforms used for sanctions evasion.” The UK soon followed suit with its own sanctions against the project’s backers, claiming the token was “specifically designed as an attempt to evade western sanctions.” 

Ogienko corroborated this account to Reuters, telling the publication, “we were sanctioned several times,” but denying the project had anything to do with money laundering and claiming to be regulated properly by Kyrgyzstan’s virtual-asset regime. The project’s backers have not been sanctioned by Singapore, where the conference took place. The Block could not immediately reach Token2049 or A7A5 for comment. 

After Reuters reached out to Token2049 for comment, the report states, references to A7A5’s sponsorship and Ogienko’s speech were scrubbed from the Token2049 website. The token has been closely linked to Grinex, a successor of the shuttered Russian-based Garantex exchange, which had previously been sanctioned by OFAC. 

Researchers at blockchain firm Elliptic told Reuters that as much as $70.8 billion of A7A5 has been transferred since the token’s launch in January of this year. Elliptic has previously published analysis using leaked documents to draw links between A7 founder Ilan Shor, the A7A5 stablecoin, and allegedly even the president of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov. 

“USD stablecoins carry wallet-blocking risks based on nationality, which infringes on user rights,” the A7A5 X account said in a summary of Ogienko’s talk. “The future of finance is multipolar, where regional stablecoins become a real alternative to the digital dollar.”

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