Moscow Exchange began trading perpetual futures contracts linked to an XRP index on September 22, adding the token to its derivatives offerings alongside bitcoin and ether. The listing comes as Russia implements new cryptocurrency regulations that separate retail and professional trading channels.
The exchange listed five perpetual contracts including XRPUSDF, each tracking in-house crypto indexes and quoted in U.S. dollars while settling in rubles. The XRP contract tracks the MOEXXRP benchmark. Perpetual futures are derivatives with no expiration date; Moex structures them as one-day contracts that automatically roll over, with no actual XRP changing hands.
The contracts join earlier offerings of bitcoin and ether futures. The exchange set funding parameters at 0% and 0.35%, establishing the cost for maintaining positions.
Qualified Investors Only
Only qualified investors—institutions and individuals meeting wealth, income, or experience thresholds under Russian securities law—are permitted to trade these contracts.
Russia's crypto legislation took effect September 1, legalizing regulated crypto trading while capping retail investors at approximately $3,700 annually. The Bank of Russia holds authority to determine which cryptocurrencies licensed intermediaries may offer to retail customers. The central bank designated cryptocurrencies a major risk to monetary sovereignty in its draft policy for 2027 to 2029.
Demand and Trading Activity
More than 72,000 qualified investors had traded Moex's crypto-linked futures by September 16, with cumulative turnover exceeding 600 billion rubles, roughly $7.1 billion at current exchange rates.
Bitcoin futures launched at Moex in June 2025 for highly qualified investors. The XRP listing follows a pattern established months earlier when Moex announced plans to launch indexes for SOL, XRP, Tron, and BNB using prices from Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Bitget.
Open interest on offshore exchanges has grown, with Binance XRPUSDT perpetual open interest rising from approximately $370 million on September 16 to roughly $541 million on September 21.
