The U.S. Treasury has moved against the A7 Network, a Russian shadow banking operation that it says Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used to evade sanctions. A proposed rule released alongside the action would cut the network’s front companies off from the American financial system, including crypto-related channels.
On Thursday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the A7 Network as a significant transnational criminal organization. Treasury listed addresses tied to the network in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Separately, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed barring transfers involving what it calls the network’s Sub-Agents, the companies it says are used to disguise sanctioned payments as routine trade flows.
Treasury said in a public statement that it had taken “unprecedented action” against the A7 Network under Operation Economic Outcast. The department described the network as a shadow banking system with ties to Russia that the Iranian regime used to dodge sanctions.
FinCEN chose the sixth special measure
FinCEN is acting under section 9714 of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. The provision provides six special measures, and the agency selected the sixth: a prohibition on transmittals of funds. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs said research into the network suggested the fifth measure, which restricts correspondent accounts, would have left a gap because A7A5 transactions move outside correspondent banking entirely. FinCEN treats that structure as integral to the network’s business model.
The sixth measure covers both fiat and crypto. If adopted, the proposed rule would apply to roughly 348,000 institutions, including crypto exchanges.
How A7 Network and A7A5 work
A7A5 is a ruble-backed token issued by Kyrgyz-registered Old Vector. It operates on Tron and Ethereum, and deposits are held at Promsvyazbank, Russia’s state-owned defense bank. FinCEN described a mirror system in which tokens move between addresses inside Russia to represent payments abroad, while Sub-Agents make matching fiat transfers in dollars, yuan, dirhams, and euros. The two sides are kept firewalled from one another.
FinCEN said more than 180 entities processed at least $179.1 billion in A7A5 between February 2025 and June 2026. Historically, almost all of that volume moved through the sanctioned exchanges Garantex and Grinex. The token is most often used as a non-freezable bridge into USDT and then into fiat.
After a reported hack at Grinex in April, A7A5 supply consolidated into unhosted wallets. FinCEN said that may indicate a shift away from sanctioned venues.
Fiat-side accounts span at least 83 countries
On the fiat side, Treasury said A7 created or acquired hundreds of Sub-Agents. Those entities hold accounts at about 435 financial institutions across at least 83 countries. From January 2025 through June 2026, the system processed more than $17 billion.
Staff operated those accounts from Moscow through custom VPNs that made the activity appear to originate in Dubai, Hong Kong, or Bishkek.
Treasury linked the network to Iran, Nobitex, and North Korean laundering activity
Treasury said one Sub-Agent dealt directly with entities tied to Iran’s shadow fleet of tankers and, together with a sister company, received close to $140 million from firms involved in Iranian sanctions evasion. Another sent about $1.6 million to a company linked to weapons procurement.
The department also tied the network to Nobitex, the Iranian exchange it designated in June. Treasury further said the network was connected to laundering proceeds from North Korean exchange hacks.
Launched in September 2024, with prior action from the EU and UK
Treasury said the network was launched in September 2024 by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor and Promsvyazbank. By January, it claimed to handle more than 2,000 transactions a day.
The network’s stated historical volume was 7.5 trillion rubles, or about $91.5 billion. According to the report, that would amount to roughly one-eighth of Russia’s foreign trade last year. Parts of the network had already been sanctioned by the European Union, and the UK’s National Crime Agency issued its own alert in August.
Comment period closes 30 days after publication
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “If you facilitate illicit finance for America’s adversaries, you will lose access to the U.S. financial system.”
The comment period for the proposed rule will close 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register.