Russia’s Moscow Exchange reaches $5 million trading volume in crypto index futures

The trading volume in the crypto index futures recently released by Russia’s Moscow Exchange has already exceeded 5 million in U.S. dollar equivalent.

More than 1,500 investors participated in the first session. The derivatives are based on indices reflecting the price movements of the two cryptocurrencies with the largest market capitalization.

Over 400 million rubles’ worth of crypto index futures traded on MOEX

The total trading volume in the new crypto-based futures contracts launched by the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) surpassed 418 million rubles in the first day of trading (close to $5.2 million), Russian media reported.

The figure includes three contracts expiring in the last weeks of December, January, and February, respectively, which were offered by Russia’s largest stock market this week.

They are all cash-settled futures contracts on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) indices – Bitcoin index (MOEXBTC) and Ethereum index (MOEXETH). Their tickers are BCZ5, BCF6, BCG6, ETZ5, ETF6, and ETG6.

The Bitcoin index futures trading volume was almost six times higher than that of the Ethereum index futures, the TASS news agency estimated on Wednesday, quoting stats published by MOEX.

The MOEXBTC futures accounted for 356.79 million rubles, including around 352 million rubles worth of contracts maturing on December 26, RBC broke down the numbers further.

The trading volume in the MOEXETH index futures amounted to 61.27 million rubles, 53 million rubles of which were for the December futures, the business news outlet also noted.

MOEXBTC reflects price movements of BTC and is calculated based on a weighted average of perpetual futures and swaps (BTCUSDT) from four crypto exchanges (Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Bitget), and is updated once daily. The MOEXETH index tracks the price of Ethereum and is calculated similarly.

Only professional investors have access to the new crypto index futures. On the day of their debut, 1,214 investors took part in the trading of the Bitcoin-based product, and 320 traded the Ethereum one, RBC detailed and remarked:

“Notably, corporate traders predominantly held short positions (betting on a price decline), while individuals held more long positions (betting on a rise).”

Russia is expanding its market for crypto derivatives

The Moscow Exchange already offers professional investors cash-settled futures on the shares of investment funds tracking the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The contract based on the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was launched in June, and the one tracking the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) appeared in August.

MOEX has previously reported significant investor interest in its crypto futures contracts on shares of funds investing in crypto. The average daily trading volume for these instruments on the leading Russian stock exchange reached 1.2 billion rubles last month (almost $15 million).

Also in October, Russia’s second-largest stock market, the St. Petersburg Exchange (SPB), presented its own Bitcoin futures of this type, too.

On Tuesday, the Managing Director of the Derivatives Market at Moscow Exchange Maria Patrikeeva was quoted as stating:

“The launch of direct index futures on Bitcoin and Ethereum is a logical extension of the line of crypto derivatives available to traders in rubles and in a regulated Russian jurisdiction, without the need to purchase digital assets on foreign exchanges.”

With the announcement of these instruments on November 18, the exchange emphasized they do not involve delivery of the underlying assets or trading and storing cryptocurrencies in foreign jurisdictions.

While reluctant to allow investments in cryptocurrencies themselves, the Central Bank of Russia authorized financial firms to offer crypto derivatives on the Russian market in May.

Only “highly qualified” investors have access to these products that track either the performance of foreign ETFs or cryptocurrency indices.

However, the monetary authority now plans to permit the offering of derivative instruments directly tied to crypto prices, according to a recent media report, confirmed by a representative of the regulator.

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