The US Treasury Department announced on October 1, 2026 that OFAC designated Russia-linked A7 Network a significant transnational criminal organization, blocking its US property and barring U
The US Department of the Treasury announced in an October 1, 2026 press release titled “Operation Economic Outcast” that it has taken action against the A7 Network, a Russia-linked sanctions evasion payment system that Treasury says Iran has also used to move money outside the traditional financial system.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated A7 Network a significant transnational criminal organization, a label that blocks any of its property under US jurisdiction and generally bars US persons from doing business with it or its affiliated infrastructure, including A7A5, a ruble-backed token issued by Old Vector LLC that the action specifically blocked. Treasury said the network, led by Ilan Mironovich Shor, processes more than 2,000 transactions a day worth roughly $91.5 billion, an amount Treasury estimates at about 13% of Russia’s total 2025 foreign trade.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network separately found that more than 180 entities processed approximately $179.1 billion in transactions involving the A7A5 stablecoin between February 2025 and June 2026, and that A7 Network’s sub-agents processed more than $17 billion between January 2025 and June 2026. One sub-agent alone received nearly $140 million tied to Iranian sanctions evasion entities, while another transferred roughly $1.6 million to a company linked to Iranian weapons procurement, according to Treasury.
Alongside the OFAC designation, FinCEN proposed a rule that would prohibit US financial institutions from processing fund transmittals, in both fiat currency and cryptocurrency, that involve identified A7 Network sub-agents, and issued a companion alert instructing banks and other covered institutions on how to spot suspicious activity tied to the network. The proposed rule will face a 30-day public comment period once it is published in the Federal Register.
The action is one of the US government’s most expansive uses of sanctions and anti-money-laundering authority against a stablecoin-based sanctions evasion network to date, combining a direct OFAC blocking designation with a FinCEN rulemaking aimed at cutting the network’s sub-agents off from the US financial system entirely. Treasury’s emphasis on the stablecoin’s role, rather than only the fiat payment rails A7 Network also uses, underscores how large-scale ruble-backed stablecoins have become a focal point for sanctions enforcement as Russia and allied networks look for ways around dollar-denominated restrictions.
This post first appeared in Treasury Sanctions Russia-Linked A7 Network Over $179 Billion in Stablecoin Flows
