The financial frontier just got a new player. Russia’s Moscow Exchange, the MOEX launched crypto index futures, and investors are already flocking to the party.
On day one, the trading volume shot past a cool 418 million rubles, roughly $5.2 million, according to Russian media.
Stay ahead in the crypto world – follow us on X for the latest updates, insights, and trends!🚀
This is a big deal, as Russia’s largest stock exchange stepping firmly into crypto derivatives territory.
MOEXBTC mirrors the price action of Bitcoin
Fair to say, these aren’t your everyday crypto options. They’re cash-settled futures contracts based on the price movements of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two heavyweight champs of the cryptocurrency ring.
Spreading across three contracts set to expire late December, January, and February, making the MOEX arena feel like crypto’s new colosseum.
Digging into the numbers analysts say Bitcoin’s dominance isn’t just about blockchain bragging rights in this story.
The Bitcoin index futures raked in nearly six times more trading volume than their Ethereum counterpart, tallying up 356.79 million rubles with December’s contract alone accounting for 352 million rubles.
Ethereum’s futures didn’t lag far behind, pulling in 61.27 million rubles.
MOEXBTC, the Bitcoin futures index, mirrors the price action of Bitcoin by averaging data from top crypto exchanges like Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Bitget.
Likewise, the MOEXETH index tracks Ethereum with a similar method, and both update once daily.
Investment funds tracking Bitcoin and Ethereum prices
Now, you might wonder who’s playing this game. Only the pros, please. On launch day, 1,214 investors dove into Bitcoin contracts while 320 tested the Ethereum waters.
A fun tidbit? Corporate traders mostly bet on Bitcoin prices dropping, while individual investors were more bullish, buying long positions.
Russia is clearly ramping up its crypto derivatives game. Besides these fresh futures, MOEX offers futures on shares of investment funds tracking Bitcoin and Ethereum prices, like the U.S.
iShares Bitcoin Trust and iShares Ethereum Trust ETFs. Last month, crypto derivatives trading on MOEX hit 1.2 billion rubles daily, nearly $15 million.
Central Bank of Russia prefers derivatives over actual coin ownership
Direct crypto investing remains off the menu thanks to the Central Bank of Russia, which prefers derivatives over actual coin ownership.
Since May, only “highly qualified” investors get the green light for these contracts that tie to crypto ETFs or indices, but whispers from the monetary watchdog hint at full-blown crypto price derivatives on Russia’s horizon.
So buckle up, crypto enthusiasts, Russia’s crypto derivatives market is heating up fast, turning old-school exchanges into new-school crypto arenas.
Stay ahead in the crypto world – follow us on X for the latest updates, insights, and trends!🚀
Cryptocurrency and Web3 expert, founder of Kriptoworld
LinkedIn | X (Twitter) | More articles
With years of experience covering the blockchain space, András delivers insightful reporting on DeFi, tokenization, altcoins, and crypto regulations shaping the digital economy.
📅 Published: November 21, 2025 • 🕓 Last updated: November 21, 2025
✉️ Contact: [email protected]
