Illicit crypto activity hit an all-time high of $158 billion in 2025, marking a 145% year-on-year increase, according to a new report from blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs.
TRM Labs said the surge was driven largely by A7A5, a ruble-pegged stablecoin linked to Russia that has become a major tool for sanctions evasion and state-aligned economic activity.
“A7A5 shows how pressure creates specialisation, and how bad actors will build new rails when old ones become harder to use,”
Said TRM Labs global head of policy Ari Redbord.
The report found that 95% of inflows to sanctioned entities and jurisdictions in 2025 occurred via stablecoins, with 77% of illicit stablecoin activity, or more than $72 billion, tied to A7A5 alone.
This represents a significant shift from previous years, when dollar-pegged stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT dominated illicit crypto transactions worldwide.
TRM said stablecoin flows to sanctioned entities fell nearly 30% on centralised exchanges with know-your-customer controls, but jumped more than 200% on decentralised platforms lacking KYC standards.
Outside Russia, TRM noted that Tether remained heavily used for illicit activity in countries like Venezuela and Iran, particularly on the Tron blockchain, highlighting divergent patterns in sanctions-driven crypto adoption.