Russia’s A7 international settlement platform has announced a new payment service that will allow customers to settle foreign invoices using USDT while recipients receive funds through conventional SWIFT bank transfers. Summary Russia’s A7 has announced a new international payment service that allows customers to settle foreign invoices in USDT while recipients receive funds through SWIFT bank transfers. A7 International will charge a fixed 0.3% transaction fee and primarily serve foreign trade businesses, although individual customers will be eligible. The service is being introduced shortly after US authorities sanctioned the A7 Network over allegations involving more than $17 billion in transactions linked to its payment infrastructure. A7 claims to serve around 15,000 customers and process approximately 2,000 transactions daily, with operations spanning more than 100 countries. According to an October 12 announcement distributed through Chainwire, the service, called A7 International, is scheduled to be presented on October 13 and will charge a fixed transaction fee of 0.3%. The platform is primarily intended for businesses involved in international trade, although individual customers will be eligible to use it. Under the proposed arrangement, customers can pay invoices issued by foreign counterparties using Tether’s USDT stablecoin. A7 will arrange for the recipient to receive the payment through a standard bank transfer in the required currency. A7 has not disclosed which banks will process the transfers, which currencies will be supported, or how USDT payments will be converted into fiat currency before settlement. The announcement comes less than two weeks after the United States imposed new sanctions on the A7 Network over allegations that its international payment infrastructure helped sanctioned entities move funds through foreign financial institutions. A7 International will connect USDT payments with SWIFT transfers A7 International is being introduced as a payment service that combines cryptocurrency transfers with traditional international banking infrastructure. Customers will be able to fund transactions in USDT without requiring the foreign recipient to accept cryptocurrency directly. For businesses paying overseas suppliers, the service is designed to handle the conversion between a stablecoin-funded payment and a conventional bank settlement. The company has set its transaction fee at 0.3%, although the announcement does not specify whether currency conversion costs or intermediary banking charges are included. Petr Fradkov, chairman of PJSC Bank PSB, and A7 CEO Ilan Shor are scheduled to introduce the service during a live presentation on October 13 at 13:13 Moscow time. The company has not provided a separate date for general customer access or disclosed the countries where the service will initially operate. A7 was established in 2024 with the involvement of PSB Bank, formally known as Promsvyazbank, and provides international payment services for companies engaged in foreign trade. According to its own figures, the company serves approximately 15,000 customers and processes around 2,000 transactions daily. A7 claims its infrastructure operates across more than 100 countries and handled approximately 19% of Russian companies’ cross-border trade settlements during 2025. The company received an AA(RU) credit rating with a Stable outlook from Russian rating agency ACRA in October 2025. Its existing products include international payments, digital financial assets and promissory notes. US sanctions have targeted A7’s international payment network The new service is being introduced shortly after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the A7 Network on October 1. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the network as a significant transnational criminal organization, while the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed restrictions on transactions involving its affiliated payment agents. According to FinCEN, companies operating as A7 Sub-Agents processed more than $17 billion in transactions between January 2025 and June 2026. U.S. authorities alleged that the network used companies registered in third countries to move payments linked to sanctioned Russian and Iranian entities. The Treasury accused the network of using misleading trade documents and intermediary companies to make restricted transactions appear to be ordinary commercial payments. FinCEN’s proposed rule would prohibit covered U.S. financial institutions from transmitting funds involving identified A7 Sub-Agents. The proposal is separate from OFAC’s sanctions designation, which blocks covered property and generally prohibits transactions involving blocked persons by U.S. persons without authorization. The Treasury identified Shor as the individual leading the network and cited his connections to sanctioned Russian financial institutions. A7’s announcement did not address the October sanctions or explain how its proposed SWIFT settlement arrangements would operate under the restrictions. Russia’s stablecoin payment network has faced scrutiny A7 has previously been associated with A7A5, a ruble-backed stablecoin developed for international transactions. In July, crypto.news examined the A7A5 stablecoin after blockchain researchers raised questions about the volume of economic activity passing through the network. The token’s issuer reported $34.4 billion in transaction volume during the first half of 2026, while researchers at Elliptic and TRM Labs identified substantial declines in monthly activity following enforcement actions against related exchanges. Researchers questioned how much of the reported volume represented genuine payments between independent counterparties, citing transfers between related wallets. The U.S. Treasury subsequently identified A7A5 as a blocked token issued by sanctioned company Old Vector LLC. In its October enforcement announcement, the department said the token had been developed to support international transactions within the A7 Network. The newly announced A7 International service specifically uses USDT, rather than A7A5, for customer payments. Tether’s stablecoin is denominated in U.S. dollars and operates across multiple blockchain networks. A7 has not identified which networks customers will use or whether additional digital assets will be supported. Russia has expanded legal access to cross-border crypto settlements Russia has been developing rules for cryptocurrency transactions involving foreign trade while maintaining restrictions on domestic crypto payments. In July, the State Duma approved legislation covering crypto trading, custody services and international settlements. The framework allows approved digital assets to be used in cross-border commercial transactions while preserving restrictions on cryptocurrency payments for domestic goods and services. The legislation subsequently took effect in September, establishing a regulated framework for digital asset intermediaries and foreign trade payments. Russian authorities have separately examined central bank digital currencies as another option for settling international transactions. In September, India and Russia began discussing a CBDC settlement mechanism for bilateral trade. Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said the Bank of Russia and the Reserve Bank of India were working directly on the proposed arrangement. The discussions followed Russia’s September 1 rollout of the digital ruble, while India continued testing its digital rupee for domestic and potential international applications. The two countries recorded nearly $60 billion in bilateral trade during fiscal 2026 and have set a target of $100 billion by the end of the decade.
