The Moscow Exchange Introduces Perpetual Futures
The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is poised to introduce perpetual futures for five prominent cryptocurrencies on September 22. This new offering will focus on assets including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP, and Tron, with trading limited exclusively to qualified investors.
Details of the New Futures
In an official announcement on September 16, MOEX outlined that these futures will operate as one-day contracts featuring automatic rollovers, enabling investors to capitalize on crypto market fluctuations without the need to hold or transfer the actual currencies.
The specifics of these futures will reference established indexes created by the exchange; for instance, the BTCUSDF will utilize the MOEX Bitcoin Index, while the ETHUSDF will be based on the Ether index. Similarly, SOLUSDF, XRPUSDF, and TRXUSDF will track the indexes for Solana, XRP, and Tron respectively.
Prior to this launch, MOEX had already rolled out monthly futures linked to these same cryptocurrencies, starting with Bitcoin and Ether in November 2025, followed by the altcoins in May 2026.
Revamped Index Calculation and Trading Mechanics
Noteworthy is that MOEX revamped its cryptocurrency index calculation methods back in May, ensuring they reflect prices from major exchanges and update every 15 seconds during trading hours. In the preceding months, the exchange also introduced indexes for various other cryptocurrencies, including BNB, which, however, is not incorporated into the new perpetual futures lineup.
While these new contracts will be denominated in U.S. dollars based on their respective indexes, settlements will be conducted in Russian rubles, meaning that investors don’t need to possess the digital currencies to engage in trading. MOEX clarifies that at the point of settlement, cryptocurrencies themselves will not exchange hands—only the financial results will be processed via the exchange.
Market Demand and Future Prospects
Maria Patrikeeva, the managing director of MOEX’s derivatives market, heralded this launch as a pivotal development for Russia’s derivatives market, citing strong demand from investors for digital asset derivatives.
To date, over 72,000 qualified investors have participated in MOEX’s digital asset futures, accumulating transaction volumes exceeding 600 billion rubles. This data reflects activities following an August report which indicated a daily turnover of 2.5 billion rubles, with a peak trading day totaling 10.2 billion rubles.
MOEX first ventured into regulated cryptocurrency-linked financial products in 2025, starting with contracts referencing BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, leading to a succession of products that have evolved into the current offerings. It operates under regulations established by the Bank of Russia, which governs how financial institutions can engage with cryptocurrency-linked offerings, ensuring that such products target only qualified investors without actual cryptocurrency being transferred in the transaction process.
Regulatory Changes and Future Launches
As of September 1, 2026, new regulatory guidance has modified access to cryptocurrencies for investors in Russia, allowing both qualified and non-qualified investors to trade through regulated platforms, though with notable limitations on amounts for non-qualified individuals. Nevertheless, MOEX’s upcoming perpetual futures will maintain their restriction to qualified investors only, in line with the exchange’s established framework.
This new launch marks yet another significant step for the Moscow Exchange as it expands its cryptocurrency derivatives portfolio in response to growing interest in the digital asset market.
