The Moscow exchange has launched Bitcoin
-bound futures -contracts Wednesday, but the product is only available to qualified investors.
Futures, apparently tied to the value of the American noted Ishares Bitcoin Trust Etf (Ibit), will be quoted in US dollars per year. Lot, although the settlement will be handled in Russian rubles.
The exchange said it would offer quarterly futures with the first expiry in September 2025, Tass reports.
The launch is based on momentum from other Russian financial players examining crypto exposure without direct asset ownership. Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange, adds Tass, has tested similar cash-resident futures.
The country’s largest bank Sberbank launches Bitcoin futures along with the Moscow exchange. Sberbank’s offers also include structural bonds that track the price of Bitcoin and Dollar-to-Rubly currency course.
Russia’s central bank, long skeptical of crypto markets, last month approved the offer of securities and derivatives tied to cryptocurrencies, but only to qualified investors.
