22nd February 2026 > > Trope bashing.

tl;dr

Time to bash an emerging anti-crypto trope before it gains a following.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

In response to being told his tariffs are illegal, Trump adds an extra 10%. It’s a ballsy response.

Occasional Series – Interregnum

This week sees a lot of travel for me. The CCC publication schedule will be intermittent at best.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – The quantum threat

It is probably only fair to point out the Samson is far from being an unbiased observer of cryptos.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – The next anti-crypto trope

I am getting my “this isn’t the blockchain revolution’s fault” justification in early, because you are going to hear a lot about this, and its various variants, over the coming months.

For context, naysayers – those who decry freedom, liberty, and privacy – have long desired to find bad in the crypto world, so that they may maintain their technocratic hegemony at a cost to everyone else that we should not bear, for it is unfair.

An early version of the anti-crypto war cry was the environmental criticism that BTC is energy hungry, but it is one which has long been dismantled, so it is pleasing that we hear no more on that front.

Another trope has been about facilitating criminals – drug dealing particularly – an accusation that has long been at the forefront of the criticism of the blockchain.

Which is a little odd.

I do not deny that on the dark web there are plenty of websites offering drugs for sale. I have it on good authority that the products are both cheaper and of higher quality that one might find anywhere else, but of course that is merely hearsay. I cannot personally vouch for those claims.

The oddness implicit in this blinkered prejudice against a technology that is now forcing humanity into a more democratic and freer place than has ever been imagined is that the global drug trade – financed by fiat – is estimated by the UN and other bodies at around half a trillion dollars or so per year. I suspect that is probably a severe underestimation (the UN is hardly a paragon of virtue – many of the people who run its important sub-committees would not last one second in their roles if the UN understood the meaning of a conflict of interests). At the same time, we have onchain documented activity that is “likely” to be associated with the drug trade at around $1bn - $3bn per year. That is less than 1% of the total fiat value of drug transactions per year. So, cryptos are no more than the least important payment rail for the illicit drug trade.

As an aside, and an important point we should never forget, the EU’s “mine is bigger than yours” inspired issuance of the EUR 500 note was a godsend to drug-dealer and terrorists worldwide, allowing for far more efficient physical transport of illegal cash than before. Those who want a world without cryptos justified by the tiny amount used in the purchase of drugs, must also want a world without the EU and the Euro, or any other dirty fiat currency, or even TradFi, unless they wish to be outed as a self-declared hypocrite.

…

Financial platform A7, based in Russia, launched its own Ruble stablecoin A7A5 in February 2025 on both Ethereum and TRON:

https://www.a7a5.io/

This coin was launched after the Russian state pivoted from its previous anti-crypto stance to pass legislation allowing for mining of BTC and the use of cryptos in commercial transactions. TRM labs claim that in 2025, transactions in A7A5 exceeded more than $72bn, though it isn’t clear if that double-counts both sides of the trade. TRM claims that A7A5 is a “… centrally coordinated sanctions evasion architecture tied to Russian state interests” which is a reasonable proposition. TRM continues:

“On-chain activity indicates that A7 functions as a hub connecting Russia-linked actors with counterparties across China, Southeast Asia, and Iran-linked networks — reflecting a deliberate shift toward crypto-enabled, state-aligned financial infrastructure.”

With Russia locked out of the global fiat settlement systems for USD, A7A5 is finding some use as a sanctions-busting coin.

…

Russia’s trade with Iran is estimated at up to $50bn, that with China at up to $200bn, Turkey at around $60bn, India at up to $70bn, and various other countries in the many tens of billions of dollars (2024 figures). The total comes in at around $400bn, or approximately 20% of Russia’s GDP (the remainder being concentrated in defence spending and vodka manufacturing).

A7A5 accounts for a small proportion of the sanctions busting trade for which Russia has found willing partners, those who are largely fearful of democracy and freedom. That won’t stop some alarmists from making exaggerated and misleading claims to support their anti-crypto bias. But now, you already know not to listen to them, freeing up your time to do something more productive instead.