Russia’s largest stock market, the Moscow Exchange, is going to add perpetual futures on Bitcoin and Ethereum to its crypto derivatives lineup.
The news comes ahead of the enforcement of the “digital currency” law next month, which thoroughly regulates investment in coins and related products.
MOEX to offer new futures contracts on $BTC and $ETH in September
The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is expanding its crypto derivative offerings with new contracts based on the cryptocurrencies with the biggest market capitalization.
The stock trading venue plans to launch perpetual futures on Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH) in September, one of its top executives unveiled, quoted by local media.
The platform has been providing professional investors with access to monthly and quarterly crypto futures since last summer, including ones based on Solana, Ripple, and Tron.
“We plan to expand this line and eventually increase the number of coins to 10,” Maria Patrikeeva, managing director of the exchange’s derivatives unit, told reporters.
The stock market’s operator then intends to offer perpetual futures on these underlying assets, she added, as per the Interfax news agency, which quoted her as stating:
“In September, we will launch the first two perpetual futures on the Bitcoin and Ethereum indices.”
Moscow Exchange plans to also start trading perpetual futures on approximately 20 foreign stocks in the near future, the MOEX official revealed, too.
These will be based on some of the most popular shares, such as those of Amazon, AMD, Tesla, and Netflix, among others, Patrikeeva further detailed.
She highlighted that the derivatives department has presented 34 new instruments since the beginning of the year and wants to offer almost as many more by the end of 2026.
Russia prepares to build fully regulated crypto market
MOEX started trading cryptocurrency derivatives shortly after the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) authorized financial firms to offer such products in May 2025.
The exchange was among the first participants in the country’s traditional financial market to do so, alongside other established players such as Sber, Russia’s largest bank.
Both institutions have been subject to Western sanctions over the invasion in Ukraine, which severely limit their access to the global financial infrastructure.
State-controlled as well as private Russian entities are believed to have been using cryptocurrency to circumvent restrictions in the fiat realm to continue to trade internationally.
Initially, the monetary authority in Moscow permitted only “highly qualified” investors to acquire and sell digital assets and their derivatives, but this is about to change now.
The long-awaited law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” which comprehensively regulates crypto-related activities such as investment and trading, widens investor access to them.
Most provisions of the new legislation, which was adopted by both houses of Russian parliament and signed by President Vladimir Putin this summer, will enter into force on September 1.
It will allow even non-qualified investors to put money into crypto, although under restrictions such as an annual limit of 300,000 rubles per intermediary, or around $3,500 at the current exchange rate.
The digital assets available to ordinary Russians will also be limited to the most liquid, capitalized and globally traded cryptocurrencies on the market today.
Earlier in August, the Bank of Russia approved for public trading only Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether’s dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT, which currently meet its strict criteria, as reported by Cryptopolitan.
Perpetual futures are overnight contracts without a fixed expiration date that are automatically rolled over to the next trading day, giving market participants certain flexibility in managing positions.
Moscow Exchange to start trading cryptocurrencies
MOEX is yet to announce when precisely it’s going to begin trading cryptocurrencies themselves, the Bits.media website noted in its report on its announcement on Monday.
Quoting knowledgeable sources from the industry, the Russian crypto news outlet also remarked that the exchange is preparing to set up a special depository for digital settlement purposes.
Under Russia’s new law, starting next July, all crypto transactions must be conducted through licensed intermediaries such as financial brokers and capital management firms.
At the same time, existing stock market depositories and the newly established digital depositories will be responsible for safekeeping and accounting of coin holdings.
