Moscow Exchange launches crypto perpetual futures on BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP and TRX

The Moscow Exchange (MOEX), Russia’s largest exchange, will launch perpetual futures on 22 September linked to its own crypto indices for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Tron. The contracts are available exclusively to qualified investors, are quoted in US dollars and are settled in Russian roubles. The underlying crypto is not delivered.

In brief:

• MOEX will launch five perpetual futures on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Tron on 22 September.
• The contracts are accessible only to qualified investors and are settled in Russian roubles.
• More than 72,000 qualified investors have already traded earlier crypto futures from MOEX, with a total trading volume of more than 600 billion roubles.

Five new contracts from 22 September

According to the official press release from MOEX, the five new perpetual futures will be added to an existing offering of 31 similar contracts on currency pairs, indices, precious metals and equities. The contracts will have the codes BTCUSDF, ETHUSDF, SOLUSDF, XRPUSDF and TRXUSDF, and each tracks the corresponding MOEX index for the relevant crypto.

The contracts are so-called settlement contracts: investors speculate on price movements but do not receive actual crypto. They are quoted in dollars and settled in roubles.

High demand after earlier launch last year

Maria Patrikeyeva, director of the derivatives market at the Moscow Exchange, explains that demand for this type of product is high. According to her, MOEX’s infrastructure guarantees reliable settlement, transparent price formation and protection of the rights of all market participants.

Since the launch of the first crypto futures last summer, more than 72,000 qualified investors have traded these contracts on MOEX. Total trading volume exceeded 600 billion roubles. According to the exchange, these figures explain why it is now expanding its offering with perpetual futures, a type of contract that has long been popular with crypto exchanges worldwide and has no fixed expiry date.

The new contracts fit into a broader trend in which traditional exchanges offer crypto derivatives. For example, Bitcoin ETFs recently saw an outflow of $450 million, which shows how sensitive the market for regulated crypto products can be to shifting sentiment.