The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) will introduce perpetual futures contracts tied to its own cryptocurrency indices on September 22, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Tron. The instruments will be reserved for qualified investors, quoted in dollars but settled in rubles, with no delivery of the underlying digital assets involved.
Perpetual futures differ from standard futures contracts in that they carry no expiration date. Instead, funding payments between long and short positions keep the contract price anchored to a reference index. The instrument was first introduced in 2016 by the derivatives exchange BitMEX and has since become a staple of crypto trading globally.
Access will be limited to investors who qualify under Russian rules, which require several million rubles in assets or a high income, professional market experience, or passing a qualifying exam. MOEX said that roughly 72,000 qualified investors have already used its crypto derivatives products since the summer of 2025, generating cumulative trading volume of more than 600 billion rubles, equivalent to roughly $7.5 billion.
A gradual build-out since 2024
The new listing extends a sequence of regulatory steps that have progressively widened the space for synthetic crypto exposure inside Russia's regulated financial system, even as direct use of crypto for payments remains banned. Crypto mining was legalized in Russia in November 2024, and an experimental regime now permits the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade settlements.
In May 2025, the Bank of Russia authorized financial institutions to offer crypto-linked instruments without physical delivery of the underlying asset. MOEX moved a month later, listing its first crypto-linked product in June 2025: a futures contract on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund. Sberbank has separately launched bitcoin-indexed structured bonds, adding another route for exposure without direct custody of crypto.
Tron's inclusion among the indexed assets is notable given the network's role as the main settlement rail for USDT transfers, including cross-border payment circuits originating from Russia.
Talk of a platform for the very wealthy
The Russian Ministry of Finance is separately discussing plans for a crypto exchange platform reserved for what it terms "super-qualified investors," with thresholds understood to be around 100 million rubles in assets or 50 million rubles in annual income. No launch date has been given.
Despite the expansion of regulated, cash-settled products, cryptocurrency itself remains banned as a means of payment in Russia. Individuals seeking to actually hold crypto assets continue to rely on over-the-counter channels outside the exchange system MOEX and its peers are building.
