British teenager says Russia sanctioned him after crypto laundering report

Alexander Browder, a 17-year-old British student and son of Kremlin critic Sir Bill Browder, was added to Russia’s sanctions list on June 2 after his research into ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 contributed to UK sanctions efforts. Browder spent 18 months investigating the token, which is issued by Kyrgyzstan-based Old Vector and runs on Tron and Ethereum, and his work appeared in a Henry Jackson Society report examining 164 instances of cryptocurrency laundering over two decades. He said his findings helped inform UK ministers as London introduced sanctions on May 26 against people and companies linked to A7A5, part of what the Foreign Office described as a network designed to bypass Western sanctions and one that reportedly processed more than $90 billion last year. Browder’s research estimated roughly $350 billion in illicit funds had been laundered by rogue states including Iran and North Korea, with about half allegedly flowing through the A7A5 network. Russia added Browder and four other British citizens to its stop list, accusing them of spreading false information, as Western governments continue tightening restrictions on crypto channels they say are being used to support Russia’s war economy.