Russia’s largest securities exchange is expanding its cryptocurrency derivatives market, with XRP set to join Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and TRON in a new lineup of perpetual futures launching next week.
On Wednesday, the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) said it will introduce the contracts on September 22, giving qualified investors price exposure to the five digital assets without requiring them to hold the underlying cryptocurrencies.
Notably, the contracts will be quoted in U.S. dollars but settled in Russian rubles. They will also be cash-settled, meaning investors will receive or pay the financial difference resulting from price movements rather than taking delivery of Bitcoin, XRP, or any of the other assets.
MOEX further noted that the new products will be available only to qualified investors. The exchange has already recorded significant activity in its crypto derivatives market, with more than 72,000 qualified investors participating and cumulative turnover exceeding 600 billion rubles since the first products were introduced.
Maria Patrikeeva, managing director of MOEX’s derivatives market, described the expansion as an important development for Russia’s derivatives sector.
 
“The launch of perpetual digital currency futures is an important milestone in the development of the Russian derivatives market. We see strong investor demand for digital asset derivatives,” she said.
The latest launch comes several months after MOEX expanded its cryptocurrency benchmarks to include XRP, Solana, TRON and BNB.
In May, the exchange introduced indexes for the four altcoins, adding them to existing Bitcoin and Ethereum benchmarks. The XRP index subsequently became the reference for MOEX’s XRP-linked futures, which will now also be used for the new perpetual-style contract.
XRP is therefore moving further into Russia’s regulated derivatives market, rather than simply being available as an index used for price tracking.
Meanwhile, the development also comes as Russia continues building a domestic framework for cryptocurrency activity.
As MOEX expands regulated access to crypto-related financial products, Russian authorities are also maintaining tighter controls over how digital assets can be used and accessed. Recent regulatory changes have moved cryptocurrency trading, custody and certain related activities toward licensed and supervised channels.
Notably, in late July, Russia’s State Duma approved a law moving crypto trading and related services toward licensed, supervised channels, with exchanges, brokers, and digital depositories coming under Bank of Russia oversight. The framework took effect on September 1, with a transition period running until July 2027.
The approach allows greater institutional participation while keeping access controlled rather than opening the market broadly to all investors.
The restrictions on MOEX’s new futures also reflect that model. The products provide exposure to cryptocurrency prices, but only qualified investors can trade them, and no actual digital assets change hands.
That said, XRP rose slightly following the news, trimming some of the losses recorded earlier, albeit with volume dropping about 38% to $3.99 billion.
At press time, the crypto asset was trading $1.41 reflecting a 0.16% surge in the past 24 hours.
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