// PROJECT
Illicit finance
Following the money through the networks of shell companies, cryptocurrency flows, and opaque financial vehicles that fund destabilising activity.
// INTELLIGENCE
Is Russia's Sanctioned Stablecoin Actually Working?
A7A5's promoters call it a $34 billion success the West can't stop. Blockchain analysts have taken that number apart. But A7A5's more telling feature may be the interest it pays, and what that says about sanctions effectiveness.
A7A5: Russia's Sanctioned Stablecoin Says It Moved $34 Billion. Much of It Went in a Circle.
We traced the crypto wallets. $31 million left one account and came back 13 minutes later. The payments business has collapsed, and the real draw appears to be the nearly 14 percent interest A7A5 quietly pays.