Moscow Exchange Crypto Futures Trading Hits Record $636M as Russia Expands Access

The Moscow Exchange (MOEX), Russia's largest stock market, reported a record-breaking 48.7 billion rubles ($636 million) in cryptocurrency futures trading volume for November 2025. This marks an all-time high for the platform since the launch of these contracts, driven by strong demand from qualified Russian investors amid high volatility in crypto markets.

Private individuals accounted for nearly 55% of the total trading volume in exchange-traded derivatives, indicating significant retail participation. The broader derivatives market on MOEX also saw substantial growth, with total trading volume reaching 11.7 trillion rubles—a 15.8% increase from November 2024. Open positions in this market exceeded 2.7 trillion rubles, up 22.7% year-over-year.

This surge in activity coincides with a period of regulatory evolution in Russia. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) introduced an experimental legal regime (ELR) for crypto transactions in 2025, enabling professional investors and companies engaged in cross-border trade to utilize digital assets. Following this, in May, the CBR allowed financial firms to offer crypto derivatives to "highly qualified" investors.

MOEX has been at the forefront, launching futures contracts based on Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as funds tracking foreign crypto indices. Notably, it introduced a Bitcoin futures contract linked to BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) in June and launched crypto index futures, including on Ethereum, more recently.

Looking ahead, Russian authorities are preparing to further expand the market. The CBR has signaled plans to allow commercial banks and mutual funds to operate with cryptocurrencies and to permit financial products directly linked to digital coins, moving beyond indices and ETFs. The regulator is also in discussions with the Ministry of Finance to ease investor requirements, which would broaden market participation.

Analysts expect MOEX's crypto derivatives segment to continue growing as these regulatory reforms take effect. The CBR has assessed that household investments in Russian crypto derivatives, which reached 3.7 billion rubles ($47.3 million) in the first three quarters of 2025, currently pose no risk to the country's financial stability.