How Does the December Launch Change Moscow Exchange’s Crypto Offering?
Moscow Exchange already offers regulated cryptocurrency derivatives, but those products provide price exposure rather than ownership of digital assets.On September 22, the exchange launched perpetual-style futures tied to Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP and Tron indexes. The contracts are cash settled in rubles and available only to qualified investors, meaning no cryptocurrency is delivered to the trader.Demand for those instruments has been substantial. Moscow Exchange says about 74,000 clients have traded its crypto-linked products since their launch, with average daily turnover reaching approximately 2.9 billion rubles in September.The December rollout would create a different layer of market infrastructure. Instead of simply tracking a crypto index through a derivative, investors would be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies while ownership rights are recorded through regulated digital depositories.
Investor Takeaway
Who Will Be Allowed to Buy Crypto?
The rules create two substantially different markets for retail and qualified investors.Non-qualified investors can purchase up to 300,000 rubles of eligible cryptocurrencies per calendar year through each intermediary after completing a required investor test. The Bank of Russia has identified Bitcoin, Ether and Tether’s USDT as the cryptocurrencies eligible for public exchange trading under criteria covering market capitalization, trading volume and pricing history.Qualified investors face no equivalent purchase ceiling and may buy any cryptocurrencies admitted to trading on regulated exchange or over-the-counter markets, although they must also complete risk testing.The structure gives ordinary investors access to a narrow group of highly liquid assets while allowing professional and wealthier investors considerably wider exposure.
What Changed Under Russia’s September Crypto Law?
Federal Law No. 282-FZ took effect on September 1 and established Russia’s first comprehensive framework covering the circulation of cryptocurrencies through regulated financial intermediaries.The legislation allows existing institutions, including exchanges, brokers and asset managers, to participate while also creating dedicated crypto exchanges and digital depositories. The Bank of Russia maintains registers of regulated participants and is issuing detailed rules covering custody, capital requirements and eligible assets.The framework represents a substantial change from Russia’s earlier model, under which regulated institutions could increasingly offer crypto-linked financial instruments but investors generally could not obtain the underlying digital assets through conventional exchange infrastructure.The new law formally brought crypto trading, custody and intermediation into Russia’s regulated financial system, while maintaining restrictions on using cryptocurrency as a domestic means of payment.
Investor Takeaway
Why Does the Digital Depository Matter?
Custody is one of the most consequential differences between Moscow Exchange’s existing derivatives and the planned crypto market.Digital depositories will maintain records showing which investors hold rights to cryptocurrencies. That creates a regulated custody layer between investors and the blockchain infrastructure, closer to the role traditional securities depositories play in conventional capital markets.Moscow Exchange plans to use a partner settlement digital depository rather than operate that function entirely itself. Market participants will open accounts with the depository and use the exchange for transaction execution.The December 1 launch therefore represents more than another crypto product listing. If testing proceeds as planned, Russia’s largest securities venue will connect trading, brokerage and regulated digital custody inside the same financial-market framework, giving crypto assets a route into infrastructure that already serves the country’s conventional securities markets.